Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/102396 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Freiburger Diskussionspapiere zur Ordnungsökonomik No. 14/07
Publisher: 
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Institut für Allgemeine Wirtschaftsforschung, Abteilung für Wirtschaftspolitik und Ordnungsökonomik, Freiburg i. Br.
Abstract: 
This paper argues that an evolutionary approach to policy-making, which emphasizes openness to change and political variety, is particularly compatible with the central tenets of classical liberalism. The chief reasons are that classical liberalism acknowledges the ubiquity of uncertainty, as well as heterogeneity in preferences and beliefs, and generally embraces gradual social and economic change that arises from accidental variation rather than deliberate, large-scale planning. In contrast, our arguments cast doubt on a different claim, namely that classical liberalism is particularly compatible with the evolutionary biological heritage of humans.
Subjects: 
classical liberalism
evolution
Darwinism
economic policy
cultural evolution
institutional evolution
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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