One of the problems I have with Glenn Back's shallow populism is the way he managed to denigrate the French Revolution while somehow arguing that his vision is driven by Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights struggle. This post is meant to connect some recent research on the effects of the French Revolution and highlight a more complex reason why Beck and his ilk dislike it so much (beyond the whole head-chopping stuff). Here we go...
The research comes from the National Bureau of Economic Research:
Founded in 1920, the National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. The NBER is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community.
I am not thoroughly versed in this organization, it appears to be a fairly typical economic think tank, thought their research is sometimes a bit out of the mainstream. For example, recent publications include:Fluctuations in Overseas Travel by Americans, 1820 to 2000; Can A Rational Choice Framework Make Sense of Anorexia Nervosa?; Confidence, Crashes and Animal Spirits; alongside more traditional economic research fare as: Concording U.S. Harmonized System Categories Over Time and A Unified Theory of Tobin's q, Corporate Investment, Financing, and Risk Management.
The title that caught my eye (admittedly via this finance blog) is: The Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution. I won't lie and suggest that I read the paper (you have to pay for it), but I think the abstract alone gives us some fodder for reconsidering the French Revolution in light of Beck's commentary:
The French Revolution of 1789 had a momentous impact on neighboring countries. The French Revolutionary armies during the 1790s and later under Napoleon invaded and controlled large parts of Europe. Together with invasion came various radical institutional changes. French invasion removed the legal and economic barriers that had protected the nobility, clergy, guilds, and urban oligarchies and established the principle of equality before the law. The evidence suggests that areas that were occupied by the French and that underwent radical institutional reform experienced more rapid urbanization and economic growth, especially after 1850. There is no evidence of a negative effect of French invasion. Our interpretation is that the Revolution destroyed (the institutional underpinnings of) the power of oligarchies and elites opposed to economic change; combined with the arrival of new economic and industrial opportunities in the second half of the 19th century, this helped pave the way for future economic growth. The evidence does not provide any support for several other views, most notably, that evolved institutions are inherently superior to those 'designed'; that institutions must be 'appropriate' and cannot be 'transplanted'; and that the civil code and other French institutions have adverse economic effects.
I consider myself an institutionalist. I like understanding how institutions form and reform. I don't think change always has to come through bloody revolution. I think the American people signaled their desire for change quite decisively last November, and frankly I am tired of Beck and the Party of No and their attempts to block change.
This paper appears to provide some evidence of why Beck and others are so freaked out: the change we want, need, and are bringing about threatens to, like the French Revolution, "destroy the institutional underpinnings of the power of oligarchies and elites opposed to economic change". We are doing it with the voters on our side! No need to chop off heads, that happened in November (metaphorically speaking). Now if Beck, the Nos, and all the Foxwatchers could please step down and get out of the way, we have some insitution building to do:
Health Care for All
A Renewable Energy-Based Economy
Meaningful Education
Not to mention Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood.
Merci.