Economic Development: A Constitutional Perspective

Within the theories of economics that emerge out of the ideas of economists who work in the area of constitutional economics, there are a series of social theorists that discuss the importance of law in the development of civil society and maintaining a sustainable economic growth in the long-run. A peculiar example of these economists is James m. Buchanan who one the noble prize in economics for his understanding of constitutional economic analysis. One example of a well developed institution in the area of economic development is the concept of property rights. The constitution is considered to be the central player in the coordination of economic incentive structure within economic theory and the market process. Applying this idea into the countries of the Middle East we realize that many of these middle eastern countries lack the social, political, and economic infrastructure of maintaining a sustainable growth in the middle eastern countries.

Austrian School of Economics (3)

Praxeology is the main methodology used by Austrian economists which was first introduced by Mises as the methodology of human action. As said before methodology is one of the main conceptual and theoretical elements in the writings of Austrian theorists. There are various ways of looking at this problem. First there is the issue of conceptualizing the process of theory making within the context of the development of economic theories. Model development, Econometric analysis, and theoretical underpinning with in the interdisciplinary perspectives of the social sciences can be examples of this kind of theoretical approach. Now, praxeology within the context of economic development captures the interdisciplinary perspective of institutional adjustments and the categorization of such conceptual frameworks as a constitution or a set of laws based on a series of game theoretic formulas. So this type of methodology which captures the behavior of human action can best capture the classical liberal approach of analyzing an economic system or the market system based on a consistent and thought provoking set of ideas and models that formulate into a broader understanding of economic theory. This hence, places a bridge from economic development analysis to the whole conceptual framework of analyzing mainstream issues based on a consistent frameworks of ideas rather than a trial and error approach to modeling economic issues.

Austrian School of Economics (2)

As you can seen I am really interested in the Austrian school of economics. From now on most of my readings and research for the next three months will be focused on the Austrian School tradition. It has been about a week since I started this blog and I wish to continue with the same type of topics that I presented so far with one minor adjustment that I give more updated information in the materials that I present and at the same time I keep that consistency and commitment in my blog in terms of capturing the classical liberal cliches, tones, and texture. Without any doubt the Austrian School captures themes related to liberalism in the best possible way by being consistent and using a dynamic analysis of the concept of method. This is apparent in the writings of many of the scholars who worked in the school. Methodenstreit which was mainly the fight over methods was an articulating and active symbolism of this kind of struggle of the Austrian in their attempt to find ways of capturing the power and importance of methodology in the research of economics and the social sciences.

Austrian School of Economics (1)

I recently co-translated the book called "The Austrian School of Economics: The Migration of a Tradition," into Persian (Farsi) published by nashrney in the summer of 2006. The book presents an overview of the Austrian school tradition and its different struggles and movements throughout its short 140 year history. The book which is authored by Karen Vaughn published in the year 1994 is a seminal work that captures the story of the school from its beginning years mainly from the introduction of Carl Menger's works to Eugen Bohm Bawerk and to its present day where it is taught at many major universities (economic departments) such as George Mason and New York Universities. to academic institutes and policy think tanks such as Cato at Washington D.C. and the Mises Institute at Auburn University. The school has become one of the major schools of thought within economics and it captures the marginal revolution and the liberalistic features of the works of many economists and social theorists within the history of the Western and even world intellectual history. The reading of the book is highly recommended as one of the great works in the school and as a major influential piece in redirecting the school towards a more prosperous path. c

The role of property rights in economic development (2)

One of the most important challenges faced by many developing countries in the past couple of decades has again been the problem of implementing property rights as one of the main elements in a civil society. Even though civil society is conceptually an interdisciplinary idea it has many economic and political aspects to it. Property rights has all of these properties of being an interdisciplinary concept with its emphasis on the idea of individualism and the reduction of the role of government in the economy. What is important about economic development and its relation to property rights is that it brings a new image in the minds of the reader in terms of reacting to core theoretical concepts in economics. Remember that property rights hasn't been established as a very important theoretical element in economic, sociological, and philosophical sciences. It is still a concept that embraces individual freedom and liberty and at the same time establishes itself as an institution which brings some limitations to the behavior of the private sector. So in general these series of posts about property rights are an introduction to an understanding of property rights and their role in economic development.

Economic Development: An Individualistic Methodology

Here is the link of the article that I wrote about economic development:

http://mises.org/journals/scholar/azad.pdf

Thanks

Austrian School of Economics

Here is an article that I wrote about Austrian School of economics:

Here is the link: http://mises.org/journals/scholar/azad2.pdf

Issues in History of Econoic Thought (1)

History of economic thought should't be confused with the history of economics. History of economic thought is the history of economic ideas, thinking, and issues discussed throughout the history of economics. History of economics is the history of economic events that took place during the history of mankind. History of economics is a subject area in economics that has become a major branch of economics only about two decades ago. At the same time history of economic thought is faced with various different challenges. Now applying the methodological and theoretical perspectives in the history of economic thought to the regions of Middle East can lead to a couple of issues and questions. One main question is that when did the prosperous nations of the Middle East start loosing their prosperous times and led to the down fall of great societies and turned into a meedval period just around the period of 14th century? The concept of how government started and evolved and how institutions evolved with it? The idea that what came first; humans or nature, governments or private sector institutions, ect... All of these questions need to be answered based on historical facts and figures. A short-run solution to answering this questions uses a lot of analytical tools and is related to philosophical investigation. I leave this open for future inquiry.

The role of property rights in economic development (1)

Property rights is one of the most important institutions in economic and political arenas that root from the ideas of many Renaissance and even pre renaissance social and political philosophers such as John Locke, David Hume, John Stuart Mill, and even such religious figures as St. Thomas Aquinas. Propety rights is an institution in both the theoretical and real world arena. It makes sense to compare the theory of property rights from classical liberal perspective that sheds light from the such schools of thought as libertarianism, individualism, classical liberalism, and even liberalism in its most modern sence. Most economist think of property rights as a one of the most important elements in maintaining a civil society and prospering a well developed economy. However, many of these impressions and theories about property rights stem from the understanding that government is the main influence and imposer of these property rights in the most central way possible. However, one important issue about the role of property rights in economic development is that its philosophy is from an individual perspective. Hence a central planning agent such as government is not the most influencial coordinator of influencing the economy through imposing property rights. So property rights is an spontaneous institution that has evolved throughout history in the minds of scholars in the thoeretical arena and imposed by the private sector in the real economic and political arena. This complicated issue is that brings a bridge between the theoretical and real economic aspect of property rights can only be seen thoroughly through the lense of privatized and spontaneous coordination of agents and models that are influenced by those agents.

Middle East and Classical Liberalism

When there is any talk of liberalism in the world especially in developing countries there is the talk of freedom, women't rights, human rights, etc... Even though these concepts are important they can not be regarded without considering the economic aspects of liberalism. First of all, a mistake made by many readers and thinkers is that liberalism as its true meaning can be imposed or implemented by the government. Ofcourse this is not true. Liberalism is a political philosophy that stems from the concept of individualism meaning that each person or individual has some rights and responsibilities as a human being living in a civil society. One of the most important aspects of liberalism is that it can't be implemented by a collective entity such as government into this so called civil society. Liberalism is rather a spontaneous movement that emerges from the essence of individual understanding, action, movement, and thinking. Hence, any development process needs to create not dictate an environment for the growth of the liberal economic and political reform. A good question would be that when did this spontaneous movement start? Where is the beginning of this spontaneous movement? Is there a timeline for economic and human growth? Or is it beyond time and place? All of these philosophical, political, and economic questions are important in answering questions that arise in this environment.

Countries of the Middle East

The countries of the middle east include Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. So in total there are about 22 countries who are considered to be Middle Eastern nations. There are many websites such as MENA report, the U.S. State Department, International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that present a great deal of information about the current status of the economies of these countries. This post is intended to just give you a few general information about countries in the Middle East.

Universities in the U.S. with a Middle Eastern Studies Program

Here is the list:

Barnard College
Brandeis University
Brigham Young University
Brown University
College of Wooster
Columbia University
Cornell University
Eastern Michigan University
Emory University
Fordham University
George Washington University
Hampshire College
Harvard University
Indiana University Bloomington
John Hopkins University
Lycoming College
New York University
Oberlin College
Princeton University
Rutgers University (Douglass College)
Rutgers University (Livingston College)
Rutgers University (Rutgers College)
Texas State University (San Marcos)
The University of Texas At Austin
University of Arizona
University of California - Berkeley
University of California - Los Angeles
University of Chicago
University of Connecticut
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
University of Toledo
University of Utah
Washington University in St Louis
Yale University

A New Start

Even though I blogged a long time ago on subjects related to economics and even the region of middle east, I was never serious about pursuing a blog about the economy of the region. This blog wishes to shed some light on the economies of Middle Eastern countries by pursuing a classical liberal approach with the idea that policy analysis and theoretical underpinning are the main basis of any influential movement or understanding among the people in the Middle East especially as they are developing their economies. Unfortunately most of the literature about this has been from the foreign policy perspective of many western nations and doesn't have a kind of scientific integreity or neutrality that such an influencial region deserves. So in the conclusion, this blog tries to keep a balance between policy and theory of middle eastern economics without being to judgemental and arrogant about many sensitive issues that could range from political to religious issues.