a sad reflection of the hyperspecialization among intellectuals

"Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature" by Murray Rothbard:

I think it manifestly true that very few of even the most dedicated economic technicians began their interest in economics because they were fascinated by cost curves, indifference classes, and the rest of the paraphernalia of modern economic theory.

.... they became interested in economics because they were interested in social and political problems and because they realized that the really hard political problems cannot be solved without an understanding of economics.

Infortunately, what usually happens to these people is that .... they learn .... that prestige, rewards, and brownie points are garnered not by pondering the larger problems but by sticking to one's narrow last and becoming a leading expert on a picayune technical problem.

The Myth that Laissez Faire Is Responsible for Our Financial Crisis

"The Myth that Laissez Faire Is Responsible for Our Financial Crisis" by George Reisman:

.... the politico-economic system of the United States today is so far removed from laissez-faire capitalism that it is closer to the system of a police state than to laissez-faire capitalism. The ability of the media to ignore all of the massive government interference that exists today and to characterize our present economic system as one of laissez-faire and economic freedom marks it as, if not profoundly dishonest, then as nothing less than delusional.

It seems that so long as anyone manages to move or even breathe without being under the control of the government, laissez faire allegedly continues to exist, which serves to make necessary yet still more government controls.

Intellectuals and Socialism (4)

"Why Intellectuals Still Support Socialism" by Peter G. Klein:

.... there are many benefits, for academics, to living in a highly interventionist society. It should be no wonder, then, that academics tend to support those interventions. Economists, in particular, play active roles as government advisers, creating and sustaining the welfare state that now surrounds us. Naturally, when government funds their research, economists in applied fields such as agricultural economics and monetary economics are unlikely to call for serious regulatory reform in their specialty areas.

Intellectuals and Socialism (3)

"Natural Elites, Intellectuals, and the State" by Hans-Hermann Hoppe:

There are almost no economists, philosophers, historians, or social theorists of rank employed privately by members of the natural elite. And those few of the old elite who remain and who might have purchased their services can no longer afford intellectuals financially. Instead, intellectuals are now typically public employees, even if they work for nominally private institutions or foundations. Almost completely protected from the vagaries of consumer demand ("tenured"), their number has dramatically increased and their compensation is on average far above their genuine market value.

Intellectuals and Socialism (2)

"The Intellectuals and Socialism" by Friedrich Hayek:

In fact, it is necessary to recognize that, on the whole, the typical intellectual is today more likely to be a socialist the more he is guided by good will and intelligence, and that on the plane of purely intellectual argument he will generally be able to make out a better case than the majority of his opponents within his class.

The socialist will, of course, see in this merely a proof that the more intelligent person is today bound to become a socialist .... is therefore probably the fact, not that the more intelligent people are generally socialists, but that a much higher proportion of socialists among the best minds devote themselves to those intellectual pursuits which in modern society give them a decisive influence on public opinion.

Intellectuals and Socialism (1)

Ludwig von Mises, The Anti-Capitalist Mentality:

The people of the United States are more prosperous than the inhabitants of all other countries because their government embarked later than the governments in other parts of the world upon the policy of obstructing business. Nonetheless, many people, and especially intellectuals, passionately loathe capitalism.

They—the professors, the representatives of science, and the writers, the representatives of literature— .... must stand for planning, the welfare state, socialism, and they must support all measures designed to curb the greed of management and to prevent it from abusing its economic power.