The Importance of Rules – the Vitality of Principles

Here's a letter to The Atlantic:

Sebastian Mallaby cogently summarizes Paul Romer's vital contributions to the theory of economic growth – contributions that highlight the role, not of mechanistic additions to the stock of technology and capital goods, but, instead, of good ideas ("The Politically Incorrect Guide to Ending Poverty," July/August).

According to Mallaby, "Romer began to emphasize that 'ideas' included more than just technologies and manufacturing processes.  Ideas were also...