The fatal conceit of foreign intervention

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Advances in Austrian Economics

ISSN: 1529-2134
Series editor(s): Roger Koppl; Steven Horwitz

Subject Area: Economics

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Document Information:
Title:	The fatal conceit of foreign intervention
Author(s):	Christopher J. Coyne, Rachel L. Mathers
Volume:	14 Editor(s): Roger Koppl, Steven Horwitz, Pierre Desrochers ISBN: 978-0-85724-261-7 eISBN: 978-0-85724-262-4
Citation:	Christopher J. Coyne, Rachel L. Mathers (2010), The fatal conceit of foreign intervention, in Roger Koppl, Steven Horwitz, Pierre Desrochers (ed.) What is so Austrian about Austrian Economics? (Advances in Austrian Economics, Volume 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.225-250
DOI:	10.1108/S1529-2134(2010)0000014014 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Article type:	Chapter Item
Abstract:	The fatal conceit is the assumption that the world can be shaped according to human desires. This chapter argues that the logic of the fatal conceit can be applied to foreign interventions which go beyond the limits of what can be rationally constructed by reason alone. In suffering from the fatal conceit, these interventions are characterized by: (1) the realization that intentions do not equal results, (2) a reliance on top-down planning, (3) the view of development as a technological issue, (4) a reliance on bureaucracy over markets, and (5) the primacy of collectivism over individualism. These characteristics explain why interventions extending beyond the limits of what can be rationally constructed tend to fail.