Pierre Lemieux (economist)
Encyclopedia
Pierre Lemieux is an economist and author born in Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada) in 1947.
He holds graduate degrees in economics from the University of Toronto
(Canada), and in Philosophy from University of Sherbrooke (Canada).
His research interests and fields of publication straddle economic and political theory, public choice, public finance, and public policy. He lives in the U.S.
. He is also currently a Senior Fellow at the Montreal Economic Institute
. He is Vice-President of the newly created International Institute for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, a 501(c)3 corporation. During the winter of 2009-2010, he was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Economics at San Jose State University
, San Jose CA.
He has been a columnist for the Western Standard
(both paper and on-line) and has published pieces in several financial newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the National Post
, and the Figaro-Économie. Most of them are reproduced on www.pierrelemieux.org.
He was the founder and, for a few years, the co-director of the “Iconoclastes” book series at Les Belles Lettres
in Paris.
He has also been a consultant for many international corporations.
Some of the books that immediately followed were essays or advocacy books more concerned with public policy problems. Published in the early 1990s in Paris were Apologie des sorcières modernes (Apology of Modern Witches), in defense of insider trading, and Le droit de porter des armes (The Right to Keep and Bear Arms), in defense of this right. In the late 1990, he published, in Montréal, a little book, in both an English and French version, in favor of the liberty to smoke: Smoking and Liberty: Government as a Public Health Problem.
In the early 2000s, he published, in Montréal, a more literary book relating his personal fight with the Canadian firearm-controls bureaucracy, Confessions d’un coureur des bois hors-la-loi (Confessions of an Outlaw Coureur des Bois).
More recently he authored and published in Paris Comprendre l’économie. Ou comment les économistes pensent (Understanding Economics: Or How Economists Think), an introduction to economics for the layman.
In late 2010, in a book published at Les Belles Lettres (Paris), Une crise peut en cacher une autre, he argued that the 2007-2009 economic crisis, far from being an effect of "laissez-faire", was a consequence of mounting state intervention. He presented the same ideas in Somebody in Charge: A Solution to Recessions (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011). In an endorsement for this last book, Charles Calomiris, professor of Financial Institutions at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, wrote: "Lemieux argues that the government's clumsy and ill-considered attempts to control market outcomes have often been at the heart of economic instability, and that the recent subprime crisis is a telling example of the costs of risky interventionism into the financial system. People who find that argument surprising may be even more surprised by how much their horizons will be broadened by reading this book."
Some of his out-of-print books have been reproduced in electronic format in the Classiques des sciences sociales (Classics of the Social Sciences).
He was also co-translator of two books:
He holds graduate degrees in economics from the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(Canada), and in Philosophy from University of Sherbrooke (Canada).
His research interests and fields of publication straddle economic and political theory, public choice, public finance, and public policy. He lives in the U.S.
Career
After having lectured in several universities, he is currently affiliated (as a “professeur associé”) to the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Québec in OutaouaisUniversité du Québec en Outaouais
The Université du Québec en Outaouais is a branch of the Université du Québec located in Gatineau, Québec, Canada. As of September 2010, combined enrolment at UQO's Gatineau and Saint-Jérôme campuses was 6,017, of which 4,738 were undergraduates and 1,279 postgraduate students...
. He is also currently a Senior Fellow at the Montreal Economic Institute
Montreal Economic Institute
The Montreal Economic Institute is a non-profit research organization based in Montreal. It aims at promoting economic education of the general public and efficient public policies in Quebec and Canada through studies and conferences. Its research areas include different topics such as health...
. He is Vice-President of the newly created International Institute for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, a 501(c)3 corporation. During the winter of 2009-2010, he was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Economics at San Jose State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...
, San Jose CA.
He has been a columnist for the Western Standard
Western Standard
The Western Standard is a Calgary, Alberta-based libertarian-conservative publication that billed itself as Canada's only conservative national news magazine...
(both paper and on-line) and has published pieces in several financial newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
, and the Figaro-Économie. Most of them are reproduced on www.pierrelemieux.org.
He was the founder and, for a few years, the co-director of the “Iconoclastes” book series at Les Belles Lettres
Les Belles Lettres
Les Belles Lettres is a French publisher specializing in the publication of ancient authors. Its publications include the Collection Budé.The publisher house, originally named Société Les Belles Lettres pour le développement de la culture classique, was founded by the Association Guillaume Budé,...
in Paris.
He has also been a consultant for many international corporations.
Ideas
His first books, published in Paris in the 1980s, were on the economics and political philosophy of anarcho-capitalism and classical liberalism: Du libéralisme à l’anarcho capitalisme (From Liberalism to Anarcho-Capitalism), La souveraineté de l’individu (The Sovereignty of the Individual), and L’anarcho-capitalisme (Anarcho-Capitalism). He was among the very first ones to bring libertarian and anarcho-capitalist ideas to French readers, rediscovering at the same time a forgotten French classical liberal tradition. In these works, he defended the idea that anarcho-capitalism is the ideal, of which classical liberalism is an implementation. "The public domain," he wrote in Du libéralisme à l'anarcho-capitalisme, "is only justifiable to the extent that it supports private liberty; the role of the state is to protect anarchy." In the 2006 preface to the electronic edition of L’anarcho-capitalisme (published in the Classiques des sciences sociales), he stresses more the classical liberal or minimal-government alternative. "At the dawn of the 21st century," he asks, "isn't it more important to understands how Leviathan advances and how to chain him, than to theorize on the ideal of total liberty?"Some of the books that immediately followed were essays or advocacy books more concerned with public policy problems. Published in the early 1990s in Paris were Apologie des sorcières modernes (Apology of Modern Witches), in defense of insider trading, and Le droit de porter des armes (The Right to Keep and Bear Arms), in defense of this right. In the late 1990, he published, in Montréal, a little book, in both an English and French version, in favor of the liberty to smoke: Smoking and Liberty: Government as a Public Health Problem.
In the early 2000s, he published, in Montréal, a more literary book relating his personal fight with the Canadian firearm-controls bureaucracy, Confessions d’un coureur des bois hors-la-loi (Confessions of an Outlaw Coureur des Bois).
More recently he authored and published in Paris Comprendre l’économie. Ou comment les économistes pensent (Understanding Economics: Or How Economists Think), an introduction to economics for the layman.
In late 2010, in a book published at Les Belles Lettres (Paris), Une crise peut en cacher une autre, he argued that the 2007-2009 economic crisis, far from being an effect of "laissez-faire", was a consequence of mounting state intervention. He presented the same ideas in Somebody in Charge: A Solution to Recessions (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011). In an endorsement for this last book, Charles Calomiris, professor of Financial Institutions at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, wrote: "Lemieux argues that the government's clumsy and ill-considered attempts to control market outcomes have often been at the heart of economic instability, and that the recent subprime crisis is a telling example of the costs of risky interventionism into the financial system. People who find that argument surprising may be even more surprised by how much their horizons will be broadened by reading this book."
Published books
- Du libéralisme à l’anarcho-capitalisme (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1983). Japanese translation: Tokyo, Shunju Sha, 1990.
- La souveraineté de l'individu (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1987). Spanish translation: Madrid, Union Editorial, 1992.
- L'anarcho-capitalisme (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France [collection “Que sais-je?”], 1988). Turkish translation: Istanbul, Iletisim Yayincilik AS, 1994.
- Apologie des sorcières modernes (Paris: Belles Lettres, 1991).
- Le droit de porter des armes (Paris: Belles Lettres, 1993).
- Smoking and Liberty: Government as a Public Health Problem (Montréal: Varia Press, 1997). French version: *Tabac et liberté. L’État comme problème de santé publique (Montréal: Varia, 1997).
- Confessions d'un coureur des bois hors-la-loi (Montréal: Varia, 2001).
- Comprendre l’économie. Ou comment les économistes pensent (Paris: Belles Lettres, 2008).
- Une crise peut en cacher une autre (Paris: Belles Lettres, 2010).
- Somebody in Charge: A Solution to Recessions? (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011).
Some of his out-of-print books have been reproduced in electronic format in the Classiques des sciences sociales (Classics of the Social Sciences).
Other publications
Pierre Lemieux has published a number of academic articles and several op-eds. His recent op-eds are generally reproduced on his website. His academic articles include:- “Public Health Insurance under a Nonbenevolent State”, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 33-5 (2008), pp. 416–426.
- The Underground Economy (Montréal: Montréal Economic Institute, 2007).
- “Social Welfare, State Intervention, and Value Judgments”, The Independent Review 11-1 (Summer 2006), pp. 19–36.
- “The Public Choice Revolution”, Regulation 27-3 (Fall 2004), pp. 22–29.
- “Following the Herd”, Regulation 26-4 (Winter 2003-04), pp. 16–21.
- “Les droits de propriété”, with Ejan Mackaay, Dictionnaire des Sciences Économiques (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2001).
- “The World Bank’s Tobacco Economics”, Regulation 24-3 (Fall 1981), pp. 16–19.
- “L’avenir du tabac”, Futuribles 261 (February 2001).
- “Heil Health,” The Independent Review 4-2 (Fall 1999).
- “Chaos et Anarchie,” in Alain Albert (Ed.), Chaos and Society (Amsterdam: IOS Press, 1995).
He was also co-translator of two books:
- James M. Buchanan, Les limites de la liberté (The Limits of Liberty) (Paris : Litec, 1993).
- Murray N. Rothbard, L’éthique de la liberté (The Ethics of Liberty) (Paris : Belles Lettres, 1991).
Other external links
- Main personal website: http://www.pierrelemieux.org
- Secondary website: http://www.pierrelemieux.com
- Twitter: pierre_lemieux
- Facebook: PL(a)pierrelemieux.org