Business Commons^™

The Social Economics Of Frank H. Knight, J. Patrick Raines

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Frank Hyneman Knight is well known for rehabilitating neoclassical economics with his 1924 critique of Pigouvian welfare economics. In Knight's thirty years at the University of Chicago, he thoroughly developed the notion that economic freedom and market competition are essential to maximize society's welfare. However, Knight's belief in the superiority of the market mechanism does not preclude serious concern about issues of social justice and reform.

This study seeks to establish Frank H. Knight's contributions to social economics. Elements of Knight's work will be compared to commonly recognized characteristics of a social economist. Knight's prominence in the discipline of economics …

Rationalism, Capitalism, And Democracy: The Views Of Schumpeter And Knight, J. Patrick Raines, Clarence R. Jung Jr.

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

The concept of rationality is both the origination point and the Achilles’ heel of the study of economic theory. Two of America’s more important economists, J. A. Schumpeter and Frank H. Knight, held highly developed views of the rationalistic civilization and rational thought. Although considerable concordance is present in their visions of rationality, conceptual differences exist.

Rational behavior is, in many respects, like beauty in that its meaning is defined by the extent to which there is a mapping with the values of the observer. Any discussion of rationality must begin with this difficult problem of relativity in values.

This …