2,793 works, 150 years of economic thought. Each one summarized and searchable, with cited passages inside.
Does closer knowledge of an economy’s complexity discourage intervention—or equip governments to intervene? In this comment on George Stigler, Murray N. Rothbard argues that statistical inquiry and administrative power can grow together, even when researchers have no political program. His laissez-faire perspective centres on a distinction between entrepreneurs’ knowledge of prices, costs, and profits and the aggregate information required by economic planners. Examples ranging from social surveys to input-output analysis give concrete form to his contention that methods of observation can become instruments of control. The comment also exposes a methodological dispute: whether empirical attention to particular problems sufficiently disciplines policy, or whether deductive theory is needed to reveal resource constraints and opportunity costs.