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Economic illusion strikes again.(Between The Lines)
ITEM: A succession of hurricanes had a positive economic impact, according to USA Today for September 27. "Although natural disasters spread destruction and economic pain to a wide variety of businesses, for some, it can mean a burst in activity and revenue. For that reason, economists tallying the numbers expect the hurricanes will be neutral in their effect on the U.S. economy, or may even give it a slight boost...."
"'It's a perverse thing.... [T]here's real pain,' says Steve Cochrane, director of regional economics at Economy. com.... 'But from an economic point of view, it is a plus.' Cochrane estimates that in Florida, the state hit hardest by the storms, 20,000 jobs will be created that otherwise would not have been."
BETWEEN THE LINES: Virtually every time there is a natural disaster, pundits emerge who will erroneously commend its alleged positive destruction. They shortsightedly view one side of the equation and see only certain generated jobs, turning a blind eye to what has been lost and ignoring what would have happened without the destruction.
This "broken-window fallacy" was famously skewered long ago by French economist Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) and retold effectively by Henry Hazlitt in Economics in One Lesson in 1946. The parable in Bastiat's essay "What is Seen and What Is Not Seen" involves a ...
- Frederic Bastiat: libertarian challenger or political...
- Magazine article from: Independent Review Baugus, Brian March 22, 2008 700+ words
...increasingly radical libertarian views. Claude Frederic Bastiat was such a thinker. He is best known for the...of libertarian philosophy in The Law, What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen, and other works are still widely disseminated...
- Frederic Bastiat; Economics focus.(19th-century French economist)(Brief Article)
- Magazine article from: The Economist (US) July 21, 2001 700+ words
...theories. In the history of economic thought, Frederic Bastiat, born 200 years ago, stands out as a beacon...today unsurpassed." Certainly, in "What is seen and what is not seen", Bastiat asserted the importance of taking...
- The Frederic Bastiat Prize. (International Policy Network Announces).
- Magazine article from: Regulation June 22, 2002 700+ words
...detriment of the fair industries." These words are part of an essay penned in 1845 by satirist and free-market philosopher Frederic Bastiat. In his spirit the International Policy Network (IPN) has created the Bastiat Prize. The main prize will be awarded...
- Two dead economists. (Forward Observer).(theories of Frederic Bastiat and John...
- Magazine article from: The American Enterprise Glassman, James January 1, 2003 700+ words
...some insight. The first is Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850), whose big...Usually, one effect is seen, the others are unseen. Bastiat...Not so fast. That's the "seen" part. The "unseen" part...enacted last summer. What's "seen" is a new corporate-accounting...
- France's champion of liberty: nineteenth-century economist Frederic Bastiat's...
- Magazine article from: The New American Gilmore, Jodie November 17, 2003 700+ words
...problems were so plentiful--it was hard to choose! The issues and concerns confronting 19th-century French economist Frederic Bastiat had a curiously contemporary flavor. And then, as now, a man committed to limited government, personal freedom, and...
- Liberty's Greatest Advocate Attacked Legalized Plunder.(Claude-Frederic...
- Magazine article from: Insight on the News Williams, Walter E. August 13, 2001 700+ words
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Claude-Frederic Bastiat. If one were to list the top 10 advocates of liberty, this French philosopher-economist would rank high on that list. He...
- American Trade Adjustment: The Global Impact. (book reviews)
- Magazine article from: Mid-Atlantic Journal of Business McGee, Robert W. September 22, 1989 700+ words
...III, Part 2] was one of the first expositions of this fallacy. Frederic Bastiat exposed the fallacy in the 1840s in several places. See Oeuvres Completes de Frederic Bastiat, Volume I, fourth edition (Paris: Guillaumin et [C.sup...
- OPINION.(The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money)(Excerpt)
- Newspaper article from: The Christian Science Monitor January 23, 2009 700+ words
...century earlier, French economist Frederic Bastiat gave a different view. Here are...Money" and Bastiat's, "What is seen, and what is not seen." John...are dangerous for good or evil. Frederic Bastiat on the folly, and unseen effects...
