Robert Higgs
USABiography of Robert Higgs
Robert Higgs is an American economic historian, economist of the Austrian School, and libertarian anarchist. He was born on February 1, 1944, in the United States. Since September 1944, he has been a Senior Fellow in Political Economy at the Independent Institute, and since 1995, he has served as the editor of the journal 'Independent Review'. Additionally, Higgs is an Adjunct Professor at the Ludwig von Mises Institute and the Cato Institute, both American research and educational organizations with a focus on liberalism. He has also contributed to the web journal LewRockwell.com. Higgs has taught at the University of Washington, Lafayette College, and Seattle University. He has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University and Stanford University. In 2006, Higgs was a visiting professor at the University of Economics in Prague and supervised the writing of a dissertation for the Universidad Francisco Marroquín's doctoral program.
Contributions and Work
Daniel McCarthy highly praised Higgs' work and summarized his conclusions regarding the 'ratchet effect' in a review titled 'Against Leviathan', published in the 'American Conservative' journal. In his review, McCarthy noted that most politicians and economists studied the growth of state power during times of war, depression, and general upheaval, but none of them conducted as thoughtful and meticulous research as Higgs. Using the term 'ratchet effect', which refers to a mechanism in mechanics preventing a wheel from turning backward, Higgs proved that the growth in aggregate demand leads to price increases for goods, but a decrease in aggregate demand does not necessarily lead to a decrease in aggregate price levels. The 'ratchet effect' has been discussed in the works of other scholars such as Jörg Guido Hülsmann, Joseph Salerno, Lew Rockwell, and others.
Views on the Iraq War
As a fierce critic of the Iraq War, Higgs wrote in the 'Los Angeles Chronicle' in February 2008 that the war would only end with economic difficulties and enormous losses. Continuing his condemnation, Robert stated that the continuation of the war only benefits political leaders. He added, "They (the leaders) can claim to be trying to end the war. They may have secured election and reelection, as many Democrats now serve in Congress, promising to do everything possible to end the war. But the truth is that they continue to feed the public dishonest promises." According to him, when the leaders considered all the personal consequences resulting from actions that would end the war, they realized that they would lose their political influence in every aspect. Therefore, ending the war would not serve their interests.
Recent Works
Among Higgs' recent works are 'Depression, War and Cold War: Studies in Political Economy' (2006) and 'Neither Liberty Nor Safety: Fear, Ideology, and the Growth of Government' (2007). In his extensive career, Robert Higgs has covered areas such as economic history, political economy, natural resource economics, healthcare economics, and military economics.
