One of Ronald Coase’s last essays was a short co-authored piece in the Harvard Business Review lamenting the current state of academic economics. Here’s a snippet: In the 20th century, economics consolidated as a profession; economists could afford to write exclusively for one another. At the same time, the field experienced a paradigm shift, gradually […]
Tag Archives | Coase
Coase and UVA
The Charlottesville Hook has an article suggesting Ronald Coase and James Buchanan were both pushed out of the University of Virginia due to ideological objections to their work. (HT: Michelle Meyer) If true, UVA got its just deserts, as both were awarded Nobel Prizes in Economics after their respective departures. More here.
Henderson on Coase
In Wednesday’s WSJ economist David Henderson has an op-ed on Ronald Coase’s legacy. As henderson notes, the primary thrust of Coase’s work was a rejection of “Blackboard economics” in favor of careful examinations of the real world, with a particular focus on institutions. This was the theme that unified his work across various subjects. Although […]
Ellickson’s “Case for Coase”
One of my favorite articles about the work of Ronald Coase is Robert Ellickson’s “The Case for Coase and Against Coaseanism.” Here is a portion of the introduction: Poor Ronald Coase. In an introductory essay to a recently published collection of his articles, Coase laments his lack of influence among economists. “My point of view […]
Coase on Externalities
The existence of “externalities” — effects (costs or benefits) of market transactions that are not experienced by those involved in the transaction, but are instead experienced by others, those “external” to the transaction — is routinely proffered as a justification for governmental regulation of private economic activity. Ronald Coase had a different view, however. In […]
Ronald Coase R.I.P.
I am stunned and saddened to learn that Nobel Laureate economist Ronald Coase has died. As the author of such seminal works as “The Lighthouse in Economics,” “The Nature of the Firm, ” and “The Problem of Social Cost,” Coase was one of the most influential thinkers of his generation. (See also Brian Leiter’s comment […]