At The New Rambler, Hebert Hovenkamp (Iowa): Defending a Mixed Economy (reviewing American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper, by Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson [Simon & Schuster, 2016]. Notable:
Hacker and Pierson begin with a very brief effort to dismantle the idea that the Founding Fathers, James Madison in particular, were radical anti-government activists and that the Constitution reflected that judgment. Rather, they argue, the Constitution contemplated a partnership between markets and government, and one in which the government played a strong and essential part. My own reaction to this opening discussion was twofold. First, the authors examined very little from the historiography, text, or early interpretation of the Constitution in order to prove their point. They did emphasize the extent to which the Constitution was a reaction to the weak, unworkable government contemplated by the Articles of Confederation. Beyond that, their principal discussion concerns a collection of statements from James Madison, showing that Madison was not nearly as laissez faire about the role of government in the economy as some people have thought, most particularly George Will. …
My second reaction, however, is that Hacker and Pierson are precisely correct even though they did not document their historical conclusions particularly well. Indeed, one could go a step further: the extent to which some conservatives and libertarians have attempted to rewrite constitutional history in order to make antigovernment laissez faire a significant part of our constitutional past is nothing short of embarrassing. …
(Thanks to Michael Perry for the pointer).
Posted at 6:50 AM