Lynne Kiesling Thanks to the invaluable Will Wilkinson for his link to this U. of C. Chronicle article profiling Ronald Coase: Coase said that ?it?s very difficult to imagine a system that would work better than one with private property rights and a market: mechanisms that have proved themselves repeatedly against regimes where central authority …
Michael Giberson On the PFF blog, Tom Lenard comments on Larry Lessig?s article, ?Coase?s First Question,? [PDF] in the current issue of Regulation. Lenard summarizes Lessig’s distinction between “Proper-Coaseans” and “Property-Coaseans” in this way: Lessig argues that ?proper-Coaseans? first ask the question of whether the resource in question should be the subject of property at …
OK, I’m going to rise to Ray Gifford’s bait, being the new institutional economics econ-geek that Ray believes me to be … the essay that he links to by Eric Gunning on the potential and the pitfalls associated with Coasean bargaining is a good, concise treatment of the subject. I encourage you to follow his …
In many ways the jury is still out on the science of climate change, from clouds to carbon sinks to the magnitude and geographic incidence of likely effects. Notwithstanding those uncertainties, the political reality is that controlling greenhouse gases is getting more and more attention, and the possibility of government regulation at several levels looms. …
Co2 Emissions Trading, The Coase Theorem, And Creating New Markets Read More »
It’s a mind-boggling insight that has transformed the way that (at least some of us) do economics. Megan McArdle has an outstanding description of the Coase Theorem and how it relates to spam. She points out something that usually gets lost in how people discuss and, gasp!, teach the Coase Theorem — in order to …
How can an 18th-century Scottish philosopher and economist help us understand the digital economy and our modern, hyper-connected world? That’s a question I’m tackling in a series of three essays at libertarianism.org. Digital technologies have increased our connectedness in profound ways. In the first essay I examine how Smith’s ideas about specialization and exchange combine …
Adam Smith and the Digital Economy: Connectedness and Gains From Trade Read More »
The new Alchian and Allen book Universal Economics is out. The publisher reports the authors have collaborated to produce a ”fresh, final presentation of the analytical tools” contained in their famous (among a certain kind of economics nerd) textbooks University Economics and Exchange and Production. In introducing the idea of opportunity cost in the new …
Alchian and Allen, Opportunity Cost, and the Kid in the Candy Store Read More »
For the firms in regulated industries, for the regulators, for their customers, does the theory underlying the applied regulation matter? I think it matters a lot, even down in the real-world trenches of doing regulation, because regulation’s theoretical foundation influences what regulators and firms do and how they do it. Think about a traditional regulated …
Why Does a Theory of Competition Matter for Electricity Regulation? Read More »
By now you’ve probably heard that last week the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission passed a rule stipulating that automobile sales in the state cannot be direct-to-consumer, and must instead take place via dealer franchises. Tesla Motors was the clear target of this regulation, with its innovative electric vehicles and direct-to-consumer sales model. New Jersey …
Rent-seeking Diary: State Dealer Franchise Laws and Tesla Read More »
Michael Giberson The United States Supreme Court chose to let stand a Minnesota Supreme Court decision concerning the rights of organic farmers exposed to pesticide drift from neighboring conventional farms. In the case Johnson v. Paynesville Farmers Union Cooperative Oil Co., the organic-farming Johnsons had sued conventional-farming Paynesville for damages after pesticide drift from Paynesville’s farm …
Are Property Rights Now More Clearly Defined for Organic Farmers in Minnesota? Read More »
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