Perspectives on Peace — What Should Economists Teach?

**This episode was recorded September 29, 2025.

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Chris Coyne speaks with Amy Crockett and Erwin Decker about how economics shapes our understanding of peace, conflict, and cooperation, drawing on the work of Kenneth Boulding and James Buchanan. First, Coyne speaks with Amy Crockett about her upcoming paper, “Addressing Peace in Undergraduate Economics Textbooks.” Crockett examines how peace is often treated as a background assumption in economics education and presents evidence from introductory and upper-level textbooks on how war, conflict, and policy responses are typically framed, highlighting missed opportunities to emphasize bottom-up, cooperative solutions. Coyne then speaks with Erwin Decker about his paper, “Kenneth Boulding and James Buchanan on the Public Function of Economics.” Decker discusses how both thinkers understood economics as shaping the public “image” of social life, emphasizing exchange, moral foundations, and the importance of economists addressing citizens rather than policymakers. Together, these conversations show how economic ideas—whether taught in classrooms or communicated to the public—can either reinforce conflict-centered narratives or help sustain cultures of peace and cooperation.

This is the fourth episode in a short series of episodes that will feature a collection of authors who contributed to the volume 1, issue 2 of the Markets & Society Journal or to a forthcoming special issue from The Review of Austrian Economics.

Dr. Erwin Dekker is Senior Fellow with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He has published numerous books, including Realizing the Values of Art (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), Jan Tinbergen (1903-1994) and the Rise of Economic Expertise (Cambridge University Press, 2021), and The Viennese Students of Civilization: The Meaning and Context of Austrian Economics Reconsidered (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Dr. Amy Crockett is a Senior Lecturer at Vanderbilt University. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from George Mason University, an M.A. in teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education, and a B.S. in systems engineering & economics from George Mason University. She is an Alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship.

Show Notes:

• Tensions in Political Economy Series
• Kenneth Boulding’s book, The Image: Knowledge in Life and Society (University of Michigan Press, 1956).
• Robert Higgs’ paper, “Wartime Prosperity? A Reassessment of the U.S. Economy in the 1940s” (The Journal of Economic History, 2009).
• James Buchanan’s paper, “Positive Economics, Welfare Economics, and Political Economy” (The Journal of Law & Economics, 1959).
• James M. Buchanan’s Nobel Prize Lecture