REJOINDER TO BERTRAND ON LIGHTHOUSES

Coase (1974) claimed that private lighthouses were operational in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Barnett and Block (2007) took the position that Coase’s (1974) understanding of the difference between private and public enterprises was confused,and that as a result his thesis was false. Bertrand (2006) supported the position espoused by Barnett and Block (2007) vis a vis Coase and his so called private light houses. However, Barnett and Block (2009) maintained that Bertrand (2006) committed numerous analytic errors. Bertrand (2009) defends the position of Bertrand (2006) and rejects the criticisms made of Bertrand (2006) by Barnett and Block (2009). The present paper is a rejoinder to Bertrand (2009).