In this article, I analyze and compare the contributions of Dupuit and Walras on the natural monopoly of railroads. Both theorists argued that railroads—as opposed to inland waterways—could not be vertically unbundled, a point that previous authors who compared their views failed to point...

The ongoing interpretation of Dupuit's conflict with the French liberal school on the question of justice consists of a simple opposition between public utility and natural rights. This paper aims to show that Dupuit's position is far more complex: justice is based on welfare - and thus on...