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George Orwell as a Public Choice Economist

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  • Michael Makovi

Abstract

George Orwell is famous for his two final fictions, Animal Farm (Orwell 1945a) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (Orwell 1949a). These two works are sometimes understood to defend capitalism against socialism. But as Orwell was a committed socialist, this could not have been his intention. Orwell's criticisms were directed not against socialism per se but against the Soviet Union and similarly totalitarian regimes. Instead, these fictions were intended as Public Choice-style investigations into which political systems furnished suitable incentive structures to prevent the abuse of power. This is demonstrated through a study of Orwell's non-fiction works, where his opinions and intentions are more explicit.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Makovi, 2015. "George Orwell as a Public Choice Economist," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 60(2), pages 183-208, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:amerec:v:60:y:2015:i:2:p:183-208
    DOI: 10.1177/056943451506000208
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hayek, F. A. & Caldwell, Bruce, 2007. "The Road to Serfdom," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226320557 edited by Caldwell, Bruce, October.
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    5. Rosemarie Fike & James Gwartney, 2015. "Public Choice, Market Failure, and Government Failure in Principles Textbooks," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 207-218, April.
    6. Tullock, Gordon, 1971. "Public Decisions as Public Goods," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(4), pages 913-918, July-Aug..
    7. Roback, Jennifer, 1985. "The Economic Thought of George Orwell," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 127-132, May.
    8. Hayek, F. A., 1997. "Socialism and War," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226320588 edited by Caldwell, Bruce, October.
    9. Mueller,Dennis C., 2003. "Public Choice III," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521894753, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Makovi, Michael, 2015. "Two Opposing Economic-Literary Critiques of Socialism: George Orwell Versus Eugen Richter and Henry Hazlitt," MPRA Paper 62528, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Makovi, Michael, 2016. "Labor Economics in a Planned Economy: F. A. Hayek and John Jewkes on the Impossibility of Democratic Socialism," MPRA Paper 70174, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Makovi, Michael, 2015. "George Orwell and the Incoherence of Democratic Socialism," MPRA Paper 62527, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Makovi, Michael, 2016. "The Impossibility of Democratic Socialism: Two Conceptions of Democracy," MPRA Paper 70172, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Orwell; Public Choice; socialism; totalitarianism; Neoconservatism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B24 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist; Scraffian
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General
    • P30 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - General
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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