André Azevedo Alves

Hayek's Slippery Slope, the Stability of the Mixed Economy and the Dynamics of Rent Seeking

F. A. Hayeks The Road to Serfdom continues to provoke intense scholarly debate focused on the validity of Hayeks central claim that a mixed economy is inherently unstable and economic intervention will inexorably lead to totalitarianism if pursued for a sustained period. This article presents empirical evidence which shows conclusively that it is the mixed economy that has proved remarkably stable, whereas laissez-faire and totalitarian regimes have proved inherently unstable. It is argued that this empirical outcome can be explained by the dynamics of rent seeking and Hayeks failure to anticipate that the state could control more than half of national income without requiring a totalitarian apparatus to control and direct production and consumption. The implications of the failure of Hayeks argument for our conceptualisation of freedom and power in the context of the modern democratic state and our understanding of the relationship between economic and political freedom are considered.

The Portuguese Malaise: Structural Causes of the Crisis and Lessons for the Eurozone

The analysis of the structural causes of the Portuguese crisis points to a mix of internal and external factors that reinforced each other. Among the external factors were the perverse incentives posed by the current institutional setting in the EU and the single currency. These have wider implications for the eurozone in that the long�?term sustainability of the eurozone will require more effective operation of internal adjustment mechanisms. Additionally, the implementation of monetary competition in the eurozone is suggested as an alternative to the current path towards greater centralisation.

Vitoria, the Common Good and the Limits of Political Power

This chapter focuses on the relationship between Vitoria’s notion of the common good (deeply embedded in the Thomist tradition but bringing with it some significant innovations) and his understanding of the limits of political power, both conceptually and in terms of its practical exercise. In order to shed light on that relationship, this chapter starts by laying out the fundamental aspects of Vitoria’s traditional understanding of the common good in the context of a developing notion of individual rights that was to become central in modern political thought. The main theoretical implications of this understanding concerning limits on the extension and exercise of legitimate political power as understood by Vitoria are analysed and four prominent applications of Vitoria’s conceptions about the limits of political power are discussed, namely concerning the controversial issue of legitimate resistance to abuses of political power, the role of ius gentium in establishing universal limits to the power of states in international affairs, the just war theory and the autonomy of Church and state. This chapter concludes with a brief reflection on the relevance of Vitoria’s contributions in this specific area of political thought.