Donald J. Boudreaux is a Associate Senior Research Fellow with the American Institute for Economic Research and affiliated with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University; a Mercatus Center Board Member; and a professor of economics and former economics-department chair at George Mason University. He is the author of the books The Essential Hayek, Globalization, Hypocrites and Half-Wits, and his articles appear in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, US News & World Report as well as numerous scholarly journals. He writes a blog called Cafe Hayek and a regular column on economics for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Boudreaux earned a PhD in economics from Auburn University and a law degree from the University of Virginia.
“There’s no question that the environment in which modern humans live is immeasurably cleaner, safer, and more pleasant than was the filthy and dangerous environment in which all of our pre-industrial ancestors lived.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
“Despite governments at the local, state, and federal levels all obstructing, in various ways, the process of entrepreneurial wealth creation, the robustness of the American economy continues to impress.”
“The familiar trope of the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, and the middle classes treading water is disproved by devastatingly large amounts of empirical evidence.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
“Assign to each candidate for high office a new, sterile name – something that reads like an abbreviated VIN for an automobile. For example: 6PRKr4. In fact, call it a PIN – ‘Politician Identification Number.'” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
“Because innovation is destined not only to reveal new ends that must be fitted into — and, hence, disrupt — the ‘common good capitalist’ plan, but also to create new and unanticipated means of pursuing ends, innovation must be suppressed if any ‘common good capitalist’ plan is to be seriously imposed.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
“Arguments for ‘common good capitalism’ are chock-a-block both with factual errors and faulty economic reasoning of a sort not found in arguments for true capitalism.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
“Prices, asset values, and profits and losses determined in open markets in which people spend and invest their own (and only their own) money are the only sources of information in a modern economy about which resource uses are worthwhile and which resource uses aren’t worthwhile.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
“We can hope that, should Parliament today agree to a unilateral lowering of Britain’s trade barriers, other governments would today, as other governments did in the mid-19th century, respond by unilaterally lowering theirs.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
“Because ‘to produce’ means ‘to increase humans’ opportunities to consume,’ Adam Smith is correct: consumption is indeed the sole end and purpose of all production.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
“The happy reality that entrepreneurship and bourgeois commerce continue to flourish was driven home to me by my rather unremarkable remodeling project. I have reason for optimism.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux