Comments on: J.K. Galbraith Celebrated Power, Not Freedom

By: Jack Maturin

Jack Maturin — Tue, 16 May 2006 10:47:25 +0000

Great article. Though I am of course very stupid for thinking so. You have obviously infected my mind with incorrect capitalist thoughts which should be removed by a government agency, who know better.

By: Robert Masters

Robert Masters — Tue, 16 May 2006 09:21:14 +0000

If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
– John Kenneth Galbraith

By: Marco de Innocentis

Marco de Innocentis — Tue, 16 May 2006 02:04:13 +0000

The interesting thing is that Galbraith was dismissed as a crackpot even by “economists” on the political left, like Paul Krugman. He was only loved by the media.

By: RogerM

RogerM — Tue, 16 May 2006 01:53:23 +0000

Adi, Are you familiar with the New Institutional School and Douglass North? I think you’ll find a lot of value there.

By: M E Hoffer

M E Hoffer — Mon, 15 May 2006 23:31:22 +0000

adi,

“…institutional econ is just a excuse to allow bigger government and concentration of power in hands on bureaucracy. This is just a message that politician is glad to hear…”

Bingo! Be proud. You obviously have the courage to assimilate new facts that come at the cost of your previous position. Sadly, many do not. Also, note how well JKG’s “institutionalism” lends itself to our current incarnations of Corporatism and its attendant schools of “scale-less” -I-C s.

Truly an idea that has gone “viral”, in the worst way, to metastasize itself throughout our body politic and, dare I say, our very Oversoul.

By: adi

adi — Mon, 15 May 2006 22:33:52 +0000

I once believed message that Galbraith was preaching and thought that institutionalism is greatest economic doctrine ever born.

My ( now abandoned )master thesis in history was: “American Institutionalism; Economics of Thorstein Veblen and John Galbraith”.

Later I changed to study econ ( though conventional one and full of neoclassical fallacies ) but during this year I have found many classics in econ; Lionel Robbins, Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises and Carl Menger. Now I think that this institutional econ is just a excuse to allow bigger government and concentration of power in hands on bureaucracy. This is just a message that politician is glad to hear…

By: F L. Light

F L. Light — Mon, 15 May 2006 17:40:55 +0000

In wrong cognition never reason sense
With Galbraith’s gloom in mental consonance.

By: Francisco Torres

Francisco Torres — Mon, 15 May 2006 17:09:35 +0000

Brian,

Cardinal utility means that “utility” can be measured cardinally the same way a distance or power can be measured, in units. For example, a person might place 100 units of utility for an apple, and 150 units for a pear. Of course, such is nonsense, since “utility” is a subjective judgement, not a physical attribute. Ordinal utility means that utility has NO units and cannot be measured by itself, but can be expressed in how many things are valued by a person. For example, a person might value the first apple he eats more than the fourth apple.

By: Brian Rapp

Brian Rapp — Mon, 15 May 2006 16:49:20 +0000

Dr. Anderson: Could you explain in more detail what you mean by “cardinal utility”?

By: cynical

cynical — Mon, 15 May 2006 10:45:49 +0000

And a Narcissist.

By: Angelo

Angelo — Mon, 15 May 2006 06:54:24 +0000

Galbraith was an evil man.

By: Daniel M. Ryan

Daniel M. Ryan — Mon, 15 May 2006 02:37:36 +0000

As far as I can tell, the young, pre-university, J.K. Galbraith went to an exclusive private school after receiving admission to it as a scholarship student. Not only his pet themes but also his subsequent career track is consistent with the old-school tie worn with a poor-boy suit.

If this early scholastic career is in fact what he went through, then it did set the template of his writing output: the “public man” with his “squalor” in contradistinction to the “private man” with his “affluence.”

Professor Galbraith would have made a good Anglican minister, I should add.