Eamonn Butler – författare

Despite his fame, there is still widespread ignorance about the breadth of Adam Smiths contributions to economics, politics and philosophy. In ADAM SMITH -- A PRIMER, Eamonn Butler provides an authoritative introduction to the life and work of this founder of economics. The author examines not only 'The Wealth of Nations', with its insights on trade and the division of labour, but also Smiths less well-known works, such as 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments', his lectures, and his writings on the history of science. Butler therefore provides a comprehensive, but concise, overview of Adam Smiths intellectual achievements. Whilst earlier writers may have studied economic matters, it is clear that the scope of Smiths enquiries was remarkable. In relating economic progress to human nature and institutional evolution he provided a completely new understanding of how human society works, and was very much a precursor of later writers such as Hayek and Popper. Indeed, with poor governance, protectionism and social engineering still commonplace, Smiths arguments are still highly relevant to policymakers today.ADAM SMITH -- A PRIMER includes a foreword by Sir Alan Peacock, an introduction by Gavin Kennedy and a commentary by Craig Smith.

Ludwig von Mises was one of the greatest economists and political scientists of the twentieth century. He revolutionised the understanding of money, inflation and recessions; comprehensively refuted the arguments for socialism; and, provided a devastating critique of the methodologies of mainstream economics. His contributions to the Austrian School laid the intellectual groundwork for thinkers such as F.A. Hayek, Murray Rothbard and Israel Kirzner. In this book, Eamonn Butler provides a comprehensive yet accessible overview of Mises' outstanding achievements. At a time of economic crisis, this monograph makes it clear that Mises' work is highly relevant today. Indeed, while mainstream economics has been found wanting, the latest recession appears to have been entirely consistent with his analysis. Furthermore, the poor performance of state health and education services can be explained by Mises' Austrian theories. Nevertheless, Mises remains neglected by the economics profession, policymakers and academics. This readable primer explains why his work should be at the core of economic thinking.

'Market failure' is a term widely used by politicians, journalists and university and A-level economics students and teachers. However, those who use the term often lack any sense of proportion about the ability of government to correct market failures. This arises partly from the lack of general knowledge -- and lack of coverage in economics syllabuses -- of Public Choice economics. Public Choice economics applies realistic insights about human behaviour to the process of government, and it is extremely helpful for all those who have an interest in -- or work in -- public policy to understand this discipline. If we assume that at least some of those involved in the political process -- whether elected representatives, bureaucrats, regulators, public sector workers or electors -- will act in their own self-interest rather than in the general public interest, it should give us much less confidence that government can 'correct' market failure. This complex area of economics has been summarised in a very clear primer by Eamonn Butler.The author helps the reader to understand the limits of the government's ability to correct market failure and also explains the implications of public choice economics for the design of systems of government -- a topic that is highly relevant in contemporary political debate. This text is an important contribution for all who seek to understand better the role that government should play in economic life.

This important book outlines the core principles that define a free society. It provides an accessible introduction to the institutions and policies necessary to preserve and enhance individual freedom. The author also sets out the wider benefits of free societies. A combination of small government, the rule of law, strong private property rights and free trade enables entrepreneurship to thrive, delivering large improvements in living standards and lifting people out of poverty. Furthermore, a society based on ordered liberty allows free associations and networks of cooperation to develop that deliver wider social as well as economic benefits. Attempts to expand the role of government to promote equality or security at the expense of liberty have tended to end in failure and oppression. With its clear language, concise arguments and persuasive real-world examples, this primer is essential reading for those attempting to bring freedom to countries where the foundations of a free society are absent, and for those defending liberty in places where traditional freedoms are under threat.

Classical liberalism is one of the most important political and social philosophies. Indeed, this set of ideas was crucial in bringing the modern world into existence. It fostered a political climate in which economies were free to develop and government limited in scope, essential conditions for the unprecedented increases in living standards seen over the last two centuries. Yet despite its huge contribution, today classical liberalism is poorly understood and often misrepresented, its insights neglected in an era of pervasive state intervention. Eamonn Butler's primer is therefore extremely welcome. It is an extremely clear and well set out introduction to this way of thinking. As such, it is highly suitable for students of the social sciences and makes a valuable contribution to greater understanding of a perspective that is enjoying a long overdue revival.

Who is AYN RAND?Few 20th century intellectuals have been as influential – and controversial – as the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. Her thinking still has a profound impact, particularly on those who come to it through her novels, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead – with their core messages of individualism, self-worth, and the right to live without the impositions of others.Even though ignored or scorned by some academics, traditionalists, progressives, and public intellectuals, she remains a major influence on many of the world’s leading legislators, policy advisers, economists, entrepreneurs and investors.Why does Rand’s work remain so influential? Ayn Rand: An Introduction illuminates Rand’s importance, detailing her understanding of reality and human nature, and explores the ongoing fascination with and debates about her conclusions on knowledge, morality, politics, economics, government, public issues, aesthetics and literature. The book also places these in the context of her life and times, showing how revolutionary they were, and how they have influenced and continue to impact public policy debates.

School of Thought – 101 Great Liberal Thinkers profiles the lives and ideas of some of the leading thinkers on individual liberty – from ancient times to the present day. Award-winning author Eamonn Butler outlines key elements of liberal thought and takes a chronological look at those who shaped it across the centuries. He identifies their common goals – but also highlights their differing views on, for example, the extent of government involvement in our daily lives. For anyone interested in politics, government, social institutions, capitalism, rights, liberty and morality, School of Thought – 101 Great Liberal Thinkers provides a clear and concise introduction to a set of radical ideas – and the thinkers behind them.

Entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in boosting progress, productivity and prosperity. They drive economic growth and create new opportunities. Their innovations transform people’s lives. Yet their enormous contribution is not widely understood – and is often completely overlooked in economics textbooks.Here, author Eamonn Butler sets the record straight – explaining the vital role of entrepreneurship, exploring its economic and social significance, and examining the conditions needed for it to thrive.Along the way, he considers the kind of “unusual” people who become entrepreneurs. Who knew, for example, that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Uber founder Travis Kalanick all dropped out of university? Or that Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson and IKEA founder Ingvar Kampgrad never went to university at all?An Introduction to Entrepreneurship spotlights the strengths of entrepreneurship, whilst acknowledging its shortcomings. It discusses (often-misguided) attempts by governments to foster it. And it eloquently states the case for rehabilitating entrepreneurship into mainstream economics and politics.Above all, it provides an appreciation of – and a basic introduction to – what entrepreneurship is, why we need it, and how we can encourage it.

What is democracy? How does it work? What are its strengths – and its shortcomings?Two-thirds of the world’s population, in over 100 countries, live under governments that claim to be democratic. Yet few of those governments live up to the ideals of democracy, or respect its key principles and institutions. Here, author Eamonn Butler defines democracy, explains its purposes, and shows the difference between genuine democracy and the many sham versions that currently exist.He outlines the history of democracy and the benefits it brings. But he also points out the many myths about it that blind us to its limitations. And he explains why it’s important to have a clear understanding of democracy – and how easily it can be lost or abused when people do not properly understand it.Importantly, he asks why so many people today have become disillusioned with democratic politics – and what, if anything, can be done about it.This lucid and fascinating book provides a straightforward introduction to democracy, enabling anyone to understand it – even if they’ve never experienced it.

If you could instantly make the world’s poor twice as rich – but at the same time make the world’s rich twice as prosperous – wouldn’t you do it? This intriguing question lies at the core of An Introduction to Economic Inequality. Inequality has been blamed for many things, from causing lower life expectancy, poor education and political instability, to sparking more suicide, obesity, mental illness and murders. And the claim that the world’s richest 1% own 40% of the planet’s wealth – and that the rich keep getting richer – is regularly used to demonstrate its evils. But here author Eamonn Butler challenges this widely accepted narrative. Are we, he asks, posing the right questions? Don’t the vagaries of life dictate that people are separated by different abilities, different choices, different risks, and different luck? And should equality even be a goal in itself? Butler contends that we should instead address the real social, economic and political problems that seriously harm the lives of the poor. Fixing failing schools, he says, would do more to boost mobility and equality than any amount of income redistribution. And he argues that focusing on inequality loses sight of what’s truly important: not that everyone should be equal, but that everyone should have access to a decent standard of living. This clear-sighted yet concise critique makes for a compelling and constructive contribution to the debate on one of the 21st century’s most emotive topics.

The Mont Pelerin Society is an august, admired, yet strangely enigmatic organisation. Perhaps that's because it holds no official views, formulates no policies and publishes no manifestos. Or because it doesn't publicise the results of its discussions - and doesn't even seek agreement among its members. So why does this singularly low-profile organisation attract distinctly high-profile members - including distinguished politicians, Pulitzer Prize-winning writers and journalists and Nobel Prize-winning economists? Perhaps because, for three quarters of a century, it has played a crucial role in the battle of ideas - expanding and deepening liberal philosophy and spreading liberal thought around the world. In Scaling the Heights, Eamonn Butler traces the history of the Mont Pelerin Society. He tracks its formation in the wake of World War II, explores its many internal debates about how 'activist' it should become and explains how it has come to provide a unique forum for debate, discussion, study and self-education. But, above all, he celebrates a Society that, for 75 years, has remained unwaveringly true to its initial vision: to bring together individuals who seek to defend, support and promote liberal values - and to keep the intellectual flame of liberalism burning brightly across the globe.

Taxes. Why do we pay them? What benefits do they bring? What damage do they cause? And how could they work better? Here, author Eamonn Butler provides a jargon-free guide to taxation, its history, its aims and purposes, and its impact on individuals and economies. He invokes the work of pioneering economist Adam Smith, who defined the basic principles of good tax policy – fairness, certainty, convenience and efficiency. And he observes that taxation regularly falls short of these aims – they’re skewed for political ends and often weigh heavily on the least well-off. They’re overly-complex, costly to comply with and, in some cases, create more harm than good. In concise and coherent fashion, he critiques the knee-jerk thinking behind the introduction of new and higher taxes. He puts forward different ways of funding public services, whilst exploring the principles that would make for a much better – and much simpler – tax system.

Should economists be concerned with questions of morality? Can economic ideas be applied to social phenomena like divorce rates and crime? What even is economics? Ask an economist these questions and his answer will differ greatly depending on the school of economic thought to which he belongs. Yet too many textbooks ignore the fascinating debates and history that have shaped the modern discipline. In this book, award-winning author Eamonn Butler provides a clear, jargon-free guide to the schools of thought that have had the greatest impact on the world today, for both better and worse. It shows how and why thinkers have come up with different explanations of how economic life operates and how we might improve its workings to boost human prosperity and welfare. This is a story that stretches over two and a half millennia, from Aristotle coining the term ‘economics’ in ancient Greece, to the classical economics of Adam Smith, to Marxism and Keynesianism, to more modern ideas such as Behavioural Economics and Public Choice Theory. Butler’s concise and well-researched work provides an essential introduction to the ideas, debates and people that have shaped and continue to shape economics.

F. A. Hayek’s Law, Legislation and Liberty is one of the key texts of classical liberalism. It provides a subtle argument that the social structures on which civilisation is built are not the product of state plans or activist dreams, but instead emerge from a Darwinian process of ‘cultural evolution’. Yet despite its influence on politicians from Ronald Reagan to Javier Milei, to a non-specialist Law, Legislation and Liberty, published in three volumes from 1973 to 1978, can seem a daunting read. Hayek made little attempt to make his long and detailed arguments, often confusingly laid out and with little explanation, comprehensible to the general reader. Dr Eamonn Butler, author of Classical Liberalism – A Primer and An Introduction to Capitalism, has written this guide to assist non-specialists approach this monumental text. Butler offers a straightforward and accessible guide to this key work of twentieth-century liberal thought, without downplaying the complex nature of Hayek’s philosophy. He approaches the topic sympathetically but not uncritically while bringing in real-world examples to illuminate Hayek’s ideas.

The purpose of this book is to move beyond the approach which views energy as a purely geopolitical tool of the Russian state and assumes a 'one size fits all' approach to energy security in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that in order to fully understand Russian involvement in the regional energy complex, the CEE-Russian energy relationship should be analysed in the context of the political and economic transitions that Russia and the CEE states underwent. The chapters on individual countries in the book demonstrate that, although Russia has and will continue to play a substantial role in the CEE energy sector, the scope of its possible influence has been overstated.

"One of the most important economic thinkers of all time"– Paul KrugmanMilton Friedman changed the world. From free markets in China to the flat taxes of Eastern Europe, from the debate on drugs to interest rate policy, Friedman's skill for vivid argument and ideas led to robust and often successful challenges to a dizzying amount of received wisdom.Relying on big-picture economic analysis and an insistent faith in human freedom, he took on the economic and political orthodoxies of his day – and if he didn't always win, he never failed to change the terms of the debate.Rarely an uncontroversial figure, with his disciples and detractors to this day, this is neither a credulous nor a critical look at the Nobel laureate. A brand new guide, it simply sets out to explain his economic and public policy thinking in a straightforward and accessible way for the general reader and student.Find out:- how Friedman undermined Keynesianism and the prevailing wisdom of large-scale economic intervention- how he demonstrated the true cause of the Great Depression and identified its real culprits (they weren't the ones jumping out of the windows)- what Friedman believed really destroys the value of the money in your pocket and how it can be stopped- his arguments for why regulations and minimum- wage laws actually achieve lower standards and greater poverty- his reasons for why big corporations prefer markets that aren't free, and how high taxation harms the wealthy less than anyone else.With more, too, on democracy, equality, global trade, education, public services and financial crises, this is a concise but comprehensive guide to the influence of a key 20th century thinker.It is a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about the economist whose work changed everything.

Friedrich Hayek was one of the leading economists of the 20th century and the leading contemporary critic of Keynes. He did pioneering work on monetary theory and trade cycles, but achieved international fame through his 1944 critique of totalitarian socialism, The Road to Serfdom.He went on to map out the principles of a free society in a series of books including Law, Legislation and Liberty and became the leading proponent, along with Milton Friedman, of economic and political liberalism.Setting him in context as well as incorporating criticism since his death 20 years ago, this book explores several major areas of Hayek's thought and argument:- why society is not something that can be rebuilt any way we want, but is the result of long-term cultural evolution, and what that means for political reform, morality and individual choice- the kind of laws that true freedom relies upon, and how freedom and its benefits are threatened by political confusions- how the market process really works: from maximising gains for everyone who participates, to competition as a discovery process- where boom and bust cycles come from and how privatising currencies could be the startling solution- how we actually interpret our world, and what this means for social sciences and politics- why socialism was a mistake, capitalism isn't wasteful, and what economic organisation has to do with political destiny- the impossibility of social justice but the genuine hope offered by true economic freedom- what the real foundations of a free society look like.A breath of intellectual fresh air, this concise guide to Friedrich Hayek is a must for any reader or student interested in one of the most vital minds of the 20th century.

The purpose of this book is to move beyond the approach which views energy as a purely geopolitical tool of the Russian state and assumes a 'one size fits all' approach to energy security in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that in order to fully understand Russian involvement in the regional energy complex, the CEE-Russian energy relationship should be analysed in the context of the political and economic transitions that Russia and the CEE states underwent. The chapters on individual countries in the book demonstrate that, although Russia has and will continue to play a substantial role in the CEE energy sector, the scope of its possible influence has been overstated.