Daniel Bruce Klein (born January 16, 1962) is an American professor of

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

and an Associate Fellow of the Swedish Ratio Institute. Much of his research examines the works of

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

questions,

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

political philosophy, and the sociology of

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. He is the chief editor of ''

Econ Journal Watch ''Econ Journal Watch'' is a semiannual peer-reviewed electronic journal established in 2004. It is published by the Fraser Institute. According its website, the journal publishes comments on articles appearing in other economics journals, essays, r ...

'' and director of the Adam Smith Program at George Mason University's Department of Economics. Klein received his doctorate in economics from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1990. He was a visiting scholar at the City University in Stockholm and the Department of Economics, Stanford University.

Debates

In an article appearing in the August 2004 ''Econ Journal Watch'' he criticized

libertarian paternalism Libertarian paternalism is the idea that it is both possible and legitimate for private and public institutions to affect behavior while also respecting freedom of choice, as well as the implementation of that idea. The term was coined by beha ...

, espoused by

Cass Sunstein Cass Robert Sunstein (born September 21, 1954) is an American legal scholar known for his work in U.S. constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and behavioral economics. He is also ''The New York Times'' best-selling author of ...

and

Richard Thaler Richard H. Thaler (; born September 12, 1945) is an American economist and the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In 2015, Thaler was p ...

, as oxymoronic. He argued against what he perceived as an overly loose and weak definition of

libertarianism Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according t ...

on the grounds that Thaler and Sunstein made no meaningful distinction between liberty and coercion. In failing to define the concepts of liberty and coercion as fundamentally dissimilar processes. Libertarian paternalism uses a hyperrational behavior model of human nature as a definition for libertarianism, and neglects alternative definitions such as those advanced by

and F.A. Hayek. Klein has also been involved in a longstanding debate over the appropriate use of the terms “coordination” and “discovery” with emeritus professor of economics at New York University

Israel Kirzner Israel Meir Kirzner (also Yisroel Mayer Kirzner ; born February 13, 1930) is a British-born American economist, historian, rabbi, and Talmudist closely identified with the Austrian School. Early life and education The son of a well-known rabbi a ...

. Klein maintains that Kirzner's reliance and identification with “the Misesian image of science” threatens to discredit his more sensible contributions.

Early life

Klein was born on January 16, 1962, to a non-religious Jewish family in

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

and

Classical Liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, eco ...

views, due to his friend's criticism of the public school system.https://econfaculty.gmu.edu/klein/PdfPapers/From%20a%20Raft.pdf

Selected publications

"The Voluntary Provision of Public Goods?: The Turnpike Companies of Early America"
in ''Economic Inquiry'' vol. 28 (1990)
"Promise Keeping in the Great Society: A Model of Credit Information Sharing"
in ''Economics and Politics'' vol. 4 (1992)
''Curb Rights: A Foundation for Free Enterprise in Urban Transit''
(co-authored with Adrian T. Moore and Binyam Reja) (1997)
"Discovery and the Deepself"
in ''

Review of Austrian Economics ''The Review of Austrian Economics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering heterodox economics published by Springer Science+Business Media. It was established by Murray Rothbard, who edited ten volumes between 1987 and 1997. After Rothbard ...

'' vol. 11 (1999)
"The Demand for and Supply of Assurance"
in ''Economic Affairs'' vol. 21 (2001)
"Economists' Policy Views and Voting"
(co-authored with Charlotta Stern) in ''Public Choice'' vol. 126 (2006)
"I Was Wrong, and So Are You"
in ''The Atlantic'' vol. 307 (2011)
''Knowledge and Coordination: A Liberal Interpretation''
(2012)

Notes

External links

Klein's bio
at the

Mercatus Center The Mercatus Center is an American libertarian, free-market-oriented non-profit think tank. The Mercatus Center is located at the George Mason University campus, but it is privately funded and its employees are independent of the university. It ...

Klein's website at GMU

Econ Journal Watch
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Daniel B. 1962 births Living people 21st-century American economists American male non-fiction writers American people of Dutch descent George Mason University faculty Libertarian theorists Cato Institute people