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Jun 13, 2024 | 
mercatus.org | Rosolino A. Candela
The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the institutional foundations of an approach to political theory known as libertarianism. The institutional cornerstone of liberty is a framework of private property rights. However, the concept of private property itself and its inherent link to liberty is often misunderstood.
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Apr 12, 2024 | 
mercatus.org | Rosolino A. Candela
The article focuses on honoring the economist Yoram Barzel, highlighting his significant impact as a teacher, scholar, and mentor, particularly in the field of property rights and transaction-cost economics, which revitalized price theory within political economy. Barzel's seminal contributions, including his development of the "University of Washington approach" to economic theorizing, continue to influence generations of students and scholars in the field of new institutional economics.
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Dec 27, 2023 | 
mercatus.org | Rosolino A. Candela
Find the full chapter here. The purpose of this chapter is to explain the evolution of macroeconomic theory from a methodological standpoint. In doing so, my argument will be twofold. First, any theoretical explanation regarding the causes and consequences of macroeconomic phenomena cannot be understood without an underlying theory of microeconomics, whether explicitly or implicitly stated.
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Nov 9, 2023 | 
oll.libertyfund.org | Rosolino A. Candela
The rise of this discipline can be partially attributed to the divide that emerged after the 1970s between the empirical methods deployed by historians and economists regarding the economic effects of slavery (see Geloso and Gluck 2021; Olmstead and Rhode 2018).
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Nov 7, 2023 | 
oll.libertyfund.org | Rosolino A. Candela
One of the most important and controversial principles originating from classical economics is the principle known as “Say’s Law,” or the fundamental law of markets.
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Nov 4, 2023 | 
independent.org | Art Carden |Rosolino A. Candela
John Lockes justification for the original acquisition of private property includes the stipulation that ownership not result in the spoilage and waste of resources. However, the fear that appropriation will lead to waste is invalid, as it presupposes waste can be identified without reference to opportunity costs.
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Oct 17, 2023 | 
oll.libertyfund.org | Rosolino A. Candela
The proximate catalyst of this debate can be traced back to the 5th edition of Paul Samuelson’s seminal textbook, Economics: An Introductory Analysis (1961, pp. 192–193). Samuelson argued that lighthouses are an example of a “public good,” which can be used simultaneously by more than one individual (“non-rivalry” as economists state) but the costs of preventing free riders from not paying to use the service of a lighthouse is prohibitively high.
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Oct 15, 2023 | 
mercatus.org | Rosolino A. Candela
Since at least Adam Smith, political economists have inquired into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. From a public choice perspective, this economic transition from poverty to wealth can be reframed in terms of an escape from the transitional gains trap (Tullock, Bell J Econ 6(2):671–678, 1975).
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Oct 1, 2023 | 
mercatus.org | Rosolino A. Candela
Find the full article here. Israel Kirzner is an underappreciated economist. Kirzner has revived our understanding of the systemic role of the entrepreneur as the driving force of open and competitive markets, understood as a process of discovery, error correction, and learning. During his prolific career, he has made major contributions to the theory of capital and interest, economic methodology, the history of economic thought, and, especially, the economics and ethics of entrepreneurship.
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Sep 4, 2023 | 
econlib.org | Rosolino A. Candela
A Liberty Classics Book Review of Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution, by Ludwig von Mises. How is social cooperation possible without command? The answer to this question requires that we have a conceptual framework (i.e. theory) to interpret social and economic evolution (i.e. history), hence the title of Ludwig von Mises’s last book, Theory and History, originally published by Yale University Press in 1957.
