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Winter 2016

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 31, Number 4

Economists Have No Defense: A Critical Review of National Defense in Economics Textbooks

Christopher Coyne, George Mason University

David S. Lucas, George Mason University

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise31(4),2016,65–83EconomistsHaveNoDefense:ACriticalReviewofNationalDefenseinEconomicsTextbooks�ChristopherCoyneGeorgeMasonUniversityDavidS.LucasGeorgeMasonUniversity__________________________________________________________AbstractNationaldefenseisthetextbookexampleofapublicgood.Tounderstandhoweconomistspresentpublicgoodstoundergraduates,weanalyzefiftytextsfromacrossthreewidelytaughtundergraduateeconomicscourses:principlesofeconomics,intermediatemicroeconomics,andpublicfinance.Wefindthattextbooksoverwhelminglypresentnationaldefenseasapublicgoodandrarelymentionthepossibilityofgovernmentfailure.Thispresentationleavesstudentswithanincompleteandbiasedexposuretothegovernmentprovisionofpublicgoods.Wereconsidersomeofthemainassumptionsassociatedwiththestandardtreatmentofnationaldefenseasthequintessentialpublicgoodanddiscussopportunitiesforeducatorstobetterpreparestudentsaseconomistsandcitizens.__________________________________________________________JELCodes:A22,H11,H41,H56,H57Keywords:undergraduateteaching,nationaldefense,publicgoods,governmentfailure,publicchoice,publiceconomics,principlesofeconomics,intermediatemicroeconomicsI.IntroductionNationaldefenseisthetextbookexampleofapublicgoodpresentedtoundergraduatestudentsthroughouttheireducation,fromintroductorycoursestoadvancedtheorytoelectivecourses.Thistopicthereforeproxieshoweducatorsteachtheirstudentsabouttheprovisionof“realworld”publicgoods.Ourcentralargumentisthateconomiststendtopresentpublicgoodstotheirstudentsinanarrowandincompletemanner.�WethanktheeditorsandBryanCutsingerforusefulcommentsandfeedback.

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Title	Economists Have No Defense: A Critical Review of National Defense in Economics Textbooks
Authors/Creators:	Christopher Coyne, George Mason University David S. Lucas, George Mason University
Year:	2016
Volume:	31
Number:	4
Pages:	65 - 83
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	undergraduate teaching, national defense, public goods, government failure, public choice, public economics, principles of economics, intermediate microeconomics

Citation:
Coyne, Christopher; Lucas, David S. / 2016. "Economists Have No Defense: A Critical Review of National Defense in Economics Textbooks." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 31(4): 65-83.