Adam Smith argued that all it took to move a country from the lowest form of barbarism to the highest opulence was peace, easy taxes and a tolerable administration of justice. Now a lot of core institutions and public policies are embedded in a regime of peace, easy taxes and a tolerable administration of justice that we as scholars of political economy need to tease out and explain clearly. But it is not like Smith and Hume, or Hayek and Buchanan are silent on what that recipe for economic growth and prosperity is in terms of core institutions and public policy.





One of my fellow graduate students from the early 1980s Dan Mitchell does an excellent job in this video explaining the sources of economic prosperity. Dan has several videos online which are excellent tools for communicating basic economic policy. To my mind, Russ Roberts found his niche with podcasts, and Dan may have found his niche with these short video presentations. Perhaps President Obama can put down the blackberry for a minute and go to I-tunes and subscribe to EconTalk, or check out You Tube and watch the videos from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. It would be time well spent.



