Kirznerian Economics : Some Policy Implications and Issues

The aim of this paper is twofold: (a) to review briefly the main policy implications of Kirzner's work (and to show that Kirzner has always been careful to draw policy implications from his analysis) and (b) to contrast these with the approach that is generally used in public policy. This way, I hope to show the relevance of Kirzner's work and its importance to future policy debates.In this paper, I would like to restrict my discussion of Kirzner's work to the following policy subjects: taxation, incentives, regulation, growth, monopoly pricing, anti-trust laws, welfare criteria and economic justice. I also try to illustrate the discussion with a real policy case on the regulation of the electricity market in New Zeland. Many other policy issues can be found in Kirzner's analysis, such as central planning and indicative planning. Other areas of his work, such as Kirzner's view on the limits of the market, may lend themselves to interesting policy implications. However the lack of space in the paper constrains my desire to discuss more aspects of his work