The Political Economy The Political Economy of Forgiveness: of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Political Economy The Political Economy

• f Forgiveness:
• f Forgiveness:

The Necessity of Post The Necessity of Post-

• Atrocity Reconciliation

Atrocity Reconciliation

Peter J. Boettke Peter J. Boettke Department of Economics, George Mason University Department of Economics, George Mason University Christopher J. Coyne Christopher J. Coyne Department of Economics, Hampden Department of Economics, Hampden-

• Sydney College

Sydney College

Central Questions Central Questions

• How do people who are

forced to “live a lie” move forward?

• What is the policy toward

those who compelled them to live a lie?

Nuremberg trials

To Forgive is to Forget? To Forgive is to Forget?

To Forgive is to Forget? To Forgive is to Forget?

Stalin’s Gulag

To Forgive is to Forget? To Forgive is to Forget?

“We live in a contaminated moral

• environment. We have fallen morally ill

because we became used to saying one thing and thinking another. We have learned not to believe in anything, to ignore each other, to care only about

• urselves. Notions such as love,

friendship, compassion, humility, or forgiveness have lost their depth and dimensions.”

• Václav Havel

Does Time Heal All Wounds? Does Time Heal All Wounds?

• Operationalizing rectification
• Time discounting
• Compound interest
• Knowledge problem and just

acquisition

• Time and subsequent investment

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie? Let Sleeping Dogs Lie?

2 1 Don’t Trust Trust Honor Renege 4 4 5 1 1 3

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie? Let Sleeping Dogs Lie?

“When they set out to deal with the lawless practices

• f the past, they do not want to do it in a lawless
• manner. Their desire to demarcate themselves from

the old regime may constrain, however, the satisfaction

• f their desire to punish the agents of the regime. It

may be impossible, for instance, to punish what appears to be obvious acts of wrongdoing without introducing retroactive legislation, thus embracing the lawless practices of the previous regime.”

• Jon Elster

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie? Let Sleeping Dogs Lie?

Planned Economy Extra- Plan Black Market

Human capital embedded in the system

A General Model A General Model

*P

Moral Intuition that All Members

• f the Previous Oppressive

Regime Should be Prosecuted % of Old Oppressive Regime Prosecuted Establishment

• f New Liberal

Regime Likelihood of establishing new liberal regime

The Model Explained The Model Explained

• Likelihood of Establishing Liberal Regime is a

Likelihood of Establishing Liberal Regime is a function of: function of:

• Decisive Action to Break from Previous Oppressive

Decisive Action to Break from Previous Oppressive Regime; Regime;

• Quality of the Signal of the Break from Previous

Quality of the Signal of the Break from Previous Oppressive Regime Oppressive Regime

• Minus:

Minus:

• Financial cost of restitution

Financial cost of restitution

• Costs associated with sorting out rectification claims

Costs associated with sorting out rectification claims

• Loss of human capital that was embedded in the system

Loss of human capital that was embedded in the system

• Noise in the signal associated with engaging in retroactive just

Noise in the signal associated with engaging in retroactive justice ice

Conclusion Conclusion

As a practical matter we must not let demands for retribution bankrupt the future ability of the social system of exchange and production to serve as the basis for peaceful social cooperation.