Modern economics, whether in the orthodox tradition of Paul Samuelson or the heterodox tradition of Ludwig von Mises, ultimately looks to explain economic outcomes, that is, the effects of human action. In their own way, neither distinguish the consequences of human action from the origins of...

Using three market examples: opium, grapes, and timber; this paper illustrates mismanagement of Afghan economic affairs. These examples show an adverse effect of Western influence since the 9/11 invasion. Economic policy in Afghanistan is based on the history of capitalism, not the principles of...

This paper explores some ontological and epistemological conditions of the emergence of the Veblenian system of political economy. For that, we refer to Foucault's archaeology of political economy, since it offers insights into some of the relations that help us to understand the underlying...

The paper considers Charles Darwin's physical and intellectual journeys in Tierra del Fuego. In this account, there are really two Darwins. There is the young, brash, ambitious Darwin (D1) - an ugly cultural chauvinist who perceives the indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego as ‘savages of the...

Friedrich Hayek referred to the work of John Stuart Mill on many occasions. Often he praised him, especially in his book The Constitution of Liberty. But equally often, and this both before and after the publication of Constitution of Liberty, Hayek was critical of Mill, and at times highly...

Adam Smith made two positive claims about slavery in the context of developing economies. First, Smith argued that slavery was in general highly inefficient. By his account, the net product under freedom is 12 times larger than under slavery. Second, he observes that, despite its inefficiencies,...

Free trade and protectionist doctrines have long had ambiguous relationships to bilateral trade deals, known throughout the nineteenth century as “reciprocity” arrangements. Henry C. Carey, “the Ajax of Protection” in the nineteenth-century United States, represents well the ambiguity...

In this paper the intellectual work of Homero Cueva is briefly shown, describing some content of his books and papers. During his life, his task to spread the classic theory from main contemporary classical economists was remarkable. Indeed, the originality of Homero Cuevas in his critical...

During his honours research on an index of industrial production at the University of Western Australia, Salter gained an understanding of the composite commodity theorem. The applied work on the index of industrial production provided him with the analytic foundations for his two famous...