Liberal economics and democracy

by Conrad Waligorski

Conrad Waligorski argues that, despite individual differences, liberal economists are bound together by a common vision of the public good. Collectively, these thinkers represent a strong countertradition to the laissez-faire, free-market philosophy of James Buchanan, Milton Friedman, F. A. Hayek, Newt Gingrich, and other proponents of minimalist government and trickle-down economics. Waligorski locates the roots of the liberal economic tradition in the thought exemplified by U.S. Progressives John Dewey and Louis Brandeis, and by British liberal L. T. Hobhouse. But he also shows that these economists are no ivory-tower theorists, that they are actively engaged with real-life problems and politics. A fitting sequel and companion to Waligorski's last book, The Political Theory of Conservative Economists, this new work provides a provocative challenge to the relentless conservative and libertarian attacks on the regulatory welfare state.