This paper explores the origin and development of the "consumer choice" paradigm as the core concept of German ordoliberal thought which has had a strong impact on EU competition policy and law. Outside Germany, ordoliberal thought is often identified exclusively with the learning of the...

Using Adam Smith’s notion of an 'invisible hand', this extraordinary contribution identifies dogmatic versus pragmatic views of free markets. Published posthumously, with new contributions by Rod O’Donnell, Daniel B. Klein and Christopher Torr, this book outlines Mittermaier’s main thesis...

Adam Smith’s version of Virtue Ethics can be traced directly back to Plato (Socrates) and Aristotle. Smith basically skipped Aquinas and Augustine because they were also Catholic theologians, as well as philosophers. Referencing them would not have been looked upon kindly by the Scottish...

This paper investigates the drivers of support for market mechanisms (competition and optimizing behavior by agents). We elicit such attitudes using concrete and simplified situations where respondents face a tradeoff between an economically efficient situation and a pro-social objective. We...

Many contemporary economists portray Smith's quot;perfect libertyquot; as a precursor of perfect competition. However, modern perfect competition, particularly post World War II mathematical general equilibrium models, are far removed from meaning and intent of Smith's quot;natural system of...

This text was the basis for a presentation of the book Knowledge and Coordination: A Liberal Interpretation (Oxford University Press, 2012). The lecture discusses the richness of knowledge, the distinction between concatenate and mutual coordination, and the relation of these to a liberal...