Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Status quo: In economics, the status quo refers to the current state or condition of economic systems, policies, or market structures. It represents the existing equilibrium or prevailing situation, often seen as the baseline against which changes, reforms, or policy proposals are evaluated. Maintaining the status quo can be a strategy when potential changes are perceived as too risky or uncertain. See also Equilibrium, Decision-making process, Planning, Future, Strategies._____________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. | |||
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James M. Buchanan on Status Quo - Dictionary of Arguments
Boudreaux I 89 Status Quo/Buchanan/Boudreaux/Holcombe: Buchanan attributed special significance to the status quo. As he said often, “We start from here.” The idea is that any proposal to change the rules necessarily is done against the background of whatever benefits and costs people are experiencing under existing rules. If the rules are to be modified in a way that makes everyone better off, everyone who votes on the proposed new rules will compare them to those currently in place. Everyone should favour changes that make everyone better off, whereas changes that make some persons better off but others worse off will face opposition from those who stand to be harmed. Injustice: Despite Buchanan’s practical emphasis on the status quo as the starting point for constitutional change, he did recognize that it was possible for the status quo to contain injustices. Thinking back to the previous chapter - specifically, to Buchanan’s idea of a social contract being negotiated from a position of hypothetical anarchy - the status quo could convey advantages to some people that they would lose if a social contract were negotiated. >Social contract/Buchanan. If so, people would be justified in rejecting the status quo as a starting point. If current institutions give some people unjust advantages over others, then insisting that everyone agree to changes in the status quo would perpetuate those unjust advantages. Examples might be Apartheid in South Africa, India’s caste system, and slavery in the American South. >Politics/Buchanan, >Constitution/Buchanan, >Constitutional economics/Buchanan, >Injustice. Boudreaux I 90 Thus, the unanimous agreement that Buchanan advocated was a hypothetical agreement from anarchy (…) in which no individuals have institutionally based advantages over others. >Agreement/Buchanan, >Anarchism, >Society/Buchanan, >Unanimity/Buchanan._____________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. |
EconBuchan I James M. Buchanan Politics as Public Choice Carmel, IN 2000 Boudreaux I Donald J. Boudreaux Randall G. Holcombe The Essential James Buchanan Vancouver: The Fraser Institute 2021 Boudreaux II Donald J. Boudreaux The Essential Hayek Vancouver: Fraser Institute 2014 |
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