UK politician claims to be Austrian economics loving, but is he libertarian?

I just discovered this MP and wondered what you thought about it.

As far as I can tell he talks a good game but doesn't seem libertarian.It seems it's all a ploy fitting in with the UK conservatives talk of 'the big society' with it's pesudo-minarchist/libertarian edge.

His name is Steve Baker and he's a member of the British Conservative party.

His web page can be found here and his wiki page here.

On his web page he discusses Mises,Butler Shaffer,Hayek,Bashes positivism,Austrian Business Cycle theory etc.

The problems start when you read his 'where I stand section'.

It begins with a quote from arch conservative interventionist Benjamin DIsraeli.He calls himself an "engineer in politics" and favours pragmatism.

He talks of merely reforming the NHS bits and pieces.

I see no criticism of David Cameron on his page whatsoever.

 

 

He comes across as pretty sound. Sure, he's no rothbardian anarchocapitalist, but so what? He has his foot in the door, and a definite vision. The rest is probably just realpolitik.

Nothing new here.  All conservatives style themselves as "pragmatic".  "Pragmatic" in their dialect means having a shelf full of good books that never impinge on their public speeches or legislative actions.  What they incorrectly describe as "pragmatic" is really "undisciplined" and "insincere".  In the same way that communism never progresses past revolution, conservativism never progresses past realpolitik.

Caley McKibbin:

Nothing new here.  All conservatives style themselves as "pragmatic".  "Pragmatic" in their dialect means having a shelf full of good books that never impinge on their public speeches or legislative actions.  What they incorrectly describe as "pragmatic" is really "undisciplined" and "insincere".  In the same way that communism never progresses past revolution, conservativism never progresses past realpolitik.

 

 

That's how I feel.When I hear or see that word I think Machiavelli or the Neo-cons.Willing to commit any principle to the ashes at any moment.

 

 

Every conservative that I ever met hailed Steven Harper as the messiah years ago.  What we've gotten so far is record spending, raised age of consent, a faked long gun registry repeal and his latest proposal to give an extra $50b in research grants for nothing in particular.  Conservative "pragmatism" at its finest.

That's why I think people are too in love with Ron Paul. I mean, I kind of like him, but I don't see how him being President would change much with  535 members of Congress and one pro liberty guy. 

You are being harsh on the man; you say he called himself ''engineer in politics''. Well he is an actuall real life Engineer, and unless you have some irrational thing against engineers there is no reason for it to be blot on his charicter. Especially seeing as the context of that statement is about understanding the economic situation, then recomending Mises Human Action. He is not by any streach of the imagination displaying the (social) Engeneering mentality that Hayek disaproved of so much. "As far as I can tell he talks a good game but doesn't seem libertarian.It seems it's all a ploy fitting in with the UK conservatives talk of 'the big society' with it's pesudo-minarchist/libertarian edge." Ploy? Do you think that having ideas like his makes him popular in the party & with the leadership? Why would he pretend to burden himself with principles, and unfasionable views then trumpet them, to the world if he did not believe them. "It begins with a quote from arch conservative interventionist Benjamin DIsraeli" That quote says very little about what he actually believes, why interpret it in a hostile way? Quoting someone does not mean that you agree with them, just that you like one little bit of writing. And finally why do you think he is some radical Libertarian anyway?? His top amazon book recomendations have Hayek and Mises books on liberalism but there are no books that go further then those two did on Politics. That and his five principles * Peace. * Family as the building block of society, not the state. * Equality before the law. * Freedom from arbitrary government – the classical Rule of Law. * Property – the unity of ownership and control. all point in the direction of him being a Hayek style classical liberal. Which cirtainly has elements of pragmatic acceptance of evolved norms. He is not misrepresenting himself, it seems to me you are expecting too much from him.