Broken window fallacy paul krugman biography
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Broken window fallacy
Not to be confused with broken windows theory, which is also quite falacious.
The broken window fallacy (also known as glazier's fallacy) is a logical fallacy which assumes that destruction and the eventual recovery from it yields a net benefit to society. Someone employing the fallacy claims that destruction is an opportunity to recover and establish a state which is better than the one which came before it. To be consistent with that argument, you either have to ignore the unseen misery created by the destructive event (which can possibly endure into the recovery stage) or believe the seen positive event which ensues afterwards significantly outweighs the (ideally temporary) misery.
The fallacy is an ad hoc fallacy and an informal fallacy.
Form[edit]
- Negative event X has occurred but that's good because positive event Y will happen as a result.
Explanation[edit]
The "parable of the broken window" written by 19th century economist Frédéric Bastiat[1] is the first instance where the fallacy was explored (and from where it derives both its names). Albeit a fictitious example, it perfectly highlights the faulty logic behind this type of argument. In summary, the story goes like this: a boy breaks a window of the shop belon
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Parable of the broken window
Parable by French economist Frédéric Bastiat
This article is about the economic parable. For the criminological theory, see Broken windows theory.
The parable of the broken window was introduced by French economist Frédéric Bastiat in his 1850 essay "That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen" ("Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas") to illustrate why destruction, and the money spent to recover from destruction, is not actually a net benefit to society.
The parable seeks to show how opportunity costs, as well as the law of unintended consequences, affect economic activity in ways that are unseen or ignored. The belief that destruction is good for the economy is consequently known as the broken window fallacy or glazier's fallacy.
Parable
[edit]Bastiat's original parable of the broken window from "Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas" (1850):
Have you ever witnessed the anger of the good shopkeeper, James Goodfellow, when his careless son has happened to break a pane of glass? If you have been present at such a scene, you will most assuredly bear witness to the fact that every one of the spectators, were there even thirty of them, by common consent apparently, offered the unfortunate owner this invariable consolation –