In this short book, first published in 1971, Professor W. H. Hutt draws on a distinguished lifetime of teaching and studying economics to consider how legislators might at last rid themselves of what he sees as an occupational inhibition: the supposed unfeasibility of taking any action regarded as ‘politically impossible’. He develops the suggestion that because economists have a fundamentally different role from politicians, they should present their conclusions first as the best they can teach, and only then, as a second-best, in a form diluted by political judgement.

Professor Hutt’s examination of the divergence between economic thinking and political action since the 1930s is in itself an important contribution to understanding current socio-political conditions. His suggestions of how economists ought in future to bring their clearest thoughts to bear on political issues deserve the attention of scholars and legislators alike.

This new edition, the first since 1971, is co-published by the Mises Institute.

2010, ISBN 978 1610160056, 110pp, PB

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