Some economists have argued theoretically that the private minting of circulating precious metal coins would be inefficient: Due to information asymmetry, money-users would be chronically victimized by low-quality or underweight coins. An examination of experience with private mints during gold...

Note: This is a description of the paper and not the abstract as it appeared in the print journal. Some economists believe that the competitive survival of non-interest-bearing currency--the absence of price competition from markets for stored-value cards, banknotes, and token coins--implies a...

"The Clash of Economic Ideas interweaves the economic history of the last hundred years with the history of economic doctrines to understand how contrasting economic ideas have originated and developed over time to take their present forms. It traces the connections running from historical...

Cover -- THE CLASH OF ECONOMIC IDEAS -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Figures -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- AN OVERVIEW OF THE COMING CHAPTERS -- DO ECONOMIC IDEAS HAVE CONSEQUENCES? -- THE STRUCTURE OF INTELLECTUAL PRODUCTION -- GOVERNMENTS VERSUS MARKETS -- SOCIALISM VERSUS...