Madmen, Intellectuals, and Academic Scribblers: The Economic Engine of Political Change

Keynes's "academic scribblers" originate an idea, Hayek's "second-hand dealers of ideas" propagate it, and in response, voters elect politicians who establish institutions that create incentives for people to behave one way or another in accordance with the original idea. This is the theoretical framework for Leighton (economics, Univ. Francisco Marroquín) and López's (economics, Western Carolina Univ.) brief but well-documented volume. The authors show that ideas have consequences, and they detail the particular mechanism through which ideas lead to institutions, incentives, and actions. The work spans philosophy, political science, economics, and history, giving the reader a condensed and clear view of the evolution of economic thought and advances in political theories. Grounded in history, Leighton and Lopez develop their main argument and use it to explain welfare and its reform, the housing bubble, and other recent illustrative political-economic phenomena.