This article discusses the problem of “thought experiments” in Austrian economics and takes as a starting point Lawrence Moss’ argument on the divide between the older Austrian economists— for whom thought experiments were crucial— and the new generation that, in Moss’ view, has “abandoned” such methods. The article is an attempt not only to bridge this alleged divide but also to contribute to the development of the Austrian methodology.

This paper is a reconsideration of the role of the economist in economic development.

India ousted its British colonial rulers in 1947, after decades of struggle led principally by the revered Mohandas Gandhi. Indian economic policies would now be chosen in New Delhi rather than in London. British colonial policies had linked India‘s foreign trade to monopoly privileges and forced transfers of wealth from India toward Britain. In sharp contrast to Adam Smith, who had recommended ending such transfers by instituting free trade between former British colonies and Britain, Gandhi called for ending trade. He favored a form of national self sufficiency for India bordering on autarky. India‘s new government moved away from market-friendly policies. The growth of the Indian economy under Nehru‘s socialism, as we will see, was disappointing. More vigorous growth awaited the liberalization of the economy that began in the 1980s.

Labour‘s postwar program of nationalization was the fruit of many decades of intellectual activism by the Fabian Society, a democratic socialist movement long led by Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb, and George Bernard Shaw. In Labour‘s 1945 election victory, over 200 members of the Fabian Society were elected to Parliament. The shift from the doctrine of free markets and free trade to the doctrine of extensive government control was partly caused by the influences of the Fabian Society in Great Britain.

Since January 2009, employment has decreased in the private sector at an average rate of 0.3% each month; this is 6 times faster than employment decreased in government.

Professor Peter J. Boettke's remarks upon receiving the 2010 Adam Smith Award from the Association of Private Enterprise Education.