Contenu du sommaire : Le libéralisme économique. Interprétations et analyses
| Revue |
Cahiers d'économie politique  |
|---|---|
| Numéro | no 16-17, printemps-automne 1989 |
| Titre du numéro | Le libéralisme économique. Interprétations et analyses |
| Texte intégral en ligne | Accessible sur l'internet |
- Résumé des articles / Abstracts of the papers - p. 5-10
- Présentation - Roger Frydman, Arnaud Berthoud p. 1
- Hume et le libéralisme économique - Daniel Diatkine p. 3-19
It is generaly admitted that Hume either founded Economic Liberalism (according to Df Deleule) or was the precursor of it (F. Hayek). These points of view can't be approved, because neither real wealth nor social darwinism can't be found in Hume's works contrary to D. Deleule' s and F. Hayed's assertions. - Intérêts, intérêts sinistres et intérêts éclairés : problèmes du libéralisme chez J.-B. Say - Philippe Steiner p. 21-41 J.B. Say's conception of the state dépens on the transformation of individual interests in the superior form of enlightenned interests. In such a perspective, the state has a real importance as it can further the development of enlightenment and build a system of good laws. So, there is a strong bond in Say's social economy between economic and political liberalism ; the second one being mainly directed against the administrative complex and not against the governement stricto sensu.
- Liberté et libéralisme économique chez Walras, Hayek, Keynes - Arnaud Berthoud p. 43-73 When investigating their economie theories by the lights of their political and moral doctrines and their doctrines from the idea of freedom they involve, one can show that the dissension beetween Hayek et Keynes is of lesser importance than their common opposition to Walras.
- De la main invisible à l'ordre spontané - Pierre Lantz p. 75-90 The doctrine of economic liberalism should not be dissociated from the general orientation of social sciences and the politics at stake. By comparing Hayek with A. Smith, it is disclosed that the model of the spontaneous market order in which the microeconomic activities are embedded is deeply different from the smithian market ruled by the Invisible Hand. The hayekian model originated in the austrian neoliberalism has to be completed by the phenomenology of the social world (A. Schutz) and the microsociology of the group membership (ethnomethodology).
- Individu et totalité dans la pensée libérale. Le cas de F. Hayek - Roger Frydman p. 91-127 Commonly, liberalism and individualism are bounded. But, in fact, this criterion is not always relevant because the necessary specification of indivudual, this doctrine involves, is done in a way which foreshadow the conditions of a political or an economical equilibrium, and then, the whole. Seen from that point of view, Hayek's position is singular as it rejects methodological individualism, as well as the homo oeconomicus postulates, by considerating a global organisation irreducible to the addition of the private behaviours. Even so, he cannot avoid, in totality, the paradoxs of the standard theory of liberalism.
- Le néolibéralisme comme programme de recherche et comme idéologie - Maurice Lagueux p. 129-152 The opposition within the liberal tradition between a commitment to laissez-faire and a tendency to reshape actual markets along the lines suggested by an idealized market theory may serve to distinguish sharply neo-liberal and neo-classical economics. Four examples (competition policies, welfare analysis, theory of externalities and macroeconomic intervention) may help to illustrate the peculiarities of the neo-liberal scientific research programme which postulates that actual markets can be analyzed fairly well with the help of a market theory. Far from disculping neo- liberalism from the accusation of being a vehicle for ideology, such an acknowledgment of its scientific dimension help to understand how this ideological function may work powerfully.
- Monnaie et libéralisme : le cas Hayek - Christian Tutin p. 153-178 Hayek's proposal of competitive supply of money strongly opposes the monetary tradition of liberalism, who rested on the alleged inhability of market mecha- nisms to ensure both the determination of the quantity of money and its equilibrium value. Nevertheless, the stability of a competitive monetary order is highly doubtful/, for it is based upon the possibility that banks could control secondary emissions, and discover through market procedures a stable standard of value. Moreover, the plurality of currencies seems very difficult to maintain through time. Thus the proposition that monetary competition would eliminate inflation and the subsequent fluctuations of investment and output, far from being proved, appears as a mere postulate. The Hayekian Utopia is then more vuluable for its critical aspects than for its own validity.
- Critique épistémologique de la défense hayékienne du libéralisme économique - Michel Rosier p. 179-187 There are many ways of defending economic liberalism, but Hayek's is a very particular one. He pretends that it exists only one objective set of economic laws. For him, liberalism obeys these laws and thus brings out an order, while socialism or any kind of mterventionism come to disorder by trying unfortunately to break away from them. This paper does not demonstrate that the set of laws proposed by Hayek cannot give an order, but it shows more fundamentally that Hayek's idea of objective law is an epistemological fake.
- La nouvelle macro-économie classique : fondement et laisser-faire ? - Jacques Le Cacheux p. 189-204 Born some twenty years ago, the New Classical school has induced the development of a new research program, systematically applying the neo-classical methods of intertemporal, general-equilibrium analysis to macroeconomic issues. New classical economists are characterized by a preference for purely competitive set- tings and a limited appeal to market imperfections. Their conclusions appear to be very specific, most notably with regard to monetary theory. The new analytical methods tend to question keynesian-type interventions, but do not provide solid fondations to the « laisser- faire » doctrine.
- Limites et dangers du libéralisme - Hervé Defalvard p. 205-230 This paper has two aims : the first is to draw the limits of liberal doctrine, and the second is to point out its dangers when applied beyond those limits. The limits of liberalism will be seized through its" historical development. We shall have to distinguish between political liberalism (Hobbes and Locke) whose limit is to contain its opposite, namely totalitarism, and economic liberalism (Smith), whose limits are those of the smithian market, namely the artisanial organization of production. In a second part, it will be shown that a capitalist economy, far from being based upon the egalitarist individual logic of the smithian market, is based upon a hierarchical holist logic ; we shall then identify the solutions imagined, in spite of that gap, to apply economic liberalism to capitalist economies. The dangers of liberalism with respect to individual liberties will thus appear as consequence of this gap, which led in the past to the making of the welfare state and could lead in the future to some national-liberalism.
2ème partie
- Turgot et le fondement subjectif de la valeur - Guido Erreygers p. 231-251 In his short and unfinished article « Valeurs et Monnaies » (1769 ?) Turgot outlined a theory of value based on subjective foundations. First of all I critically examine Turgot's propositions. In this way I demonstrate that one of his fundamental ideas, viz. that the gain of exchange has to be the same of the buyer and for the seller, cannot be hold. More in general, the road taken by Turgot hardly appears to be promising. In the second place I try to find out to what extent Turgot's propositions can be regarded as an anticipation of the neoclassical theory of value. I show that it is possible to reformulate Turgot's theory in neoclassical terms. What separates Turgot from the neoclassical tradition, however, is the absence of the principle of utility maximization.
- The Economic Journal : anatomie d'une revue anglaise - Philippe Jeannin, Joëlle Devillard p. 253-266 This article is an exhaustive study, aiming first at bringing out the different topics found in the articles of « The Economic Journal » using the classification index worked out by the « Journal of Economic Literature », and then at studying the spatial distribution of the authors of the manuscripts published between 1980 and 1987. It appears that this prestigious journal plays a most important part in the fields of the Economic Theory and the Labour Market. As far as the spatial distribution is concerned, the United Kingdom ranks first before the USA. A chart and an index give more detailed information on the subject.
- Turgot et le fondement subjectif de la valeur - Guido Erreygers p. 231-251
