Do economists really believe that they have anything to learn or say about philosophical libertarianism? I mean, free markets make sense, but "taxation as theft" type talk?
By "philosophical libertarianism," I refer to the deontological belief in the value of liberty and property--that violating liberty and property is wrong in and of itself. Major thinkers along those lines include Locke, Nozick (circa the mid-70s), and Rothbard. I recall Mankiw discussing Nozick as the counterpoint to Rawls in his intro textbook chapter on redistribution, as if Nozick presents a point in Anarchy, State, and Utopia that should inform economic discussions. And Bryan Caplan likes to remind us occasionally that reasonable people sometimes think that taxation is theft.
Economics as a discipline, though, is explicitly focused on economic outcomes. Economic theory is entirely, exclusively about the consequences of economic interaction for the agents involved. Normative economics, then, can only be carried out under the umbrella of consequentialist ethics/political philosophy. That is, economics can only guide us to "better outcomes" if we are judging on the basis of outcomes. So the economist might choose an ethical framework, be it classical utilitarian, or Rawlsian, or egoistic, but it never be the type that Nozick or Rothbard have supported. Why? Because once you become concerned with "procedural fairness" and Kantian categoricals, then outcomes don't matter, and economics is therefore entirely irrelevant.
Now, if you are a textbook authors and have latent libertarian sympathies, maybe its worth warning incoming freshmen that Nozick might be right, and it might therefore be worth jumping ship before committing too much time to irrelevant study. But beyond that, I can't imagine why so many economists like to talk about those guys. At least any more than they like to talk about Islamic conceptions of sin and duty or Hellenistic stoicism.
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