Economics Dictionary of Arguments

Home Screenshot Tabelle Begriffe

 
Experience: a) reflected perception, which can be compared with prior perceptions and can be processed linguistically. See also events, perception, sensations, empiricism.
b) an event that is processed in the consciousness of a subject. No mere imagination. See also events, imagination, consciousness.

_____________
Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments.

 
Author Concept Summary/Quotes Sources

Jean-Baptiste Say on Experience - Dictionary of Arguments

Rothbard II 15
Experience/learning/Say/Rothbard: Say(1) (…) brilliantly points out why it is impossible for peoples or nations to ‘learn from experience’ and to adopt or discard theories correctly on that basis. Since the early modern era, he notes, wealth and prosperity have increased in western Europe, while at the same time nation-states have compounded restrictions of trade and multiplied the interference of taxation. Most people then superficially conclude that the latter caused the former, that trade and production increased as a result of the interference of government. On the other hand, Say and the political economists argue the reverse, that ‘the prosperity of the same countries would have been much greater, had they been governed by a more liberal and enlightened policy’. How can facts or experience decide between these two clashing interpretations? The answer is that they cannot; that only correct theory, theory deducible from a few universal general facts or principles, can do so. And that is why, notes Say, ‘nations seldom derive any benefit from the lessons of experience’.

1. Say, J.-B. 1803. Traité d'économie politique ou simple exposition de la manière dont se forment, se distribuent et se composent les richesses.translated into English as A Treatise on Political Economy (ed. Clement C. Biddle, 6th Amer. ed., 1834, New York: A. M. Kelley, 1964), based on the final fifth French edition of 1826.


_____________
Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments
The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition.

EconSay I
Jean-Baptiste Say
Traité d’ Economie Politique Paris 1803

Rothbard II
Murray N. Rothbard
Classical Economics. An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Cheltenham 1995

Rothbard III
Murray N. Rothbard
Man, Economy and State with Power and Market. Study Edition Auburn, Alabama 1962, 1970, 2009

Rothbard IV
Murray N. Rothbard
The Essential von Mises Auburn, Alabama 1988

Rothbard V
Murray N. Rothbard
Power and Market: Government and the Economy Kansas City 1977


Send Link
> Counter arguments against Say
> Counter arguments in relation to Experience

Authors A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z  


Concepts A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z