Online merchants are exposed to serious threats of fraud, which has the potential to cripple electronic commerce. Classical liberals such as Epstein and North believe that markets require prohibitions against fraud and that government can solve the problem. Although the classical-liberal...

Is the common law efficient? Neoclassical economists debate whether our inherited systems of judge-made law maximize wealth whereas Austrian economists typically adopt much different standards. The article reviews neoclassical and Austrian arguments about efficiency in the common law. After...

Most economists assume that markets depend on government to enforce contracts and rules against default or fraud. With small transactions, however, the cost to use the legal system far exceeds the value at stake in a contract, and even with large contracts, the legal system often cannot solve...

The automobile industry's high costs of entry, economies of scale, and network effects from distribution, fueling, and service lead many to conclude that new entrants have no chance. Tesla Motors has overcome many barriers to pioneer electric cars. Starting with partnerships and a minimum viable...

Inclusionary zoning, also known as below-market housing mandates, is now in place in one-third of California cities and is spreading around the united states. Supporters of this policy advocate making housing more affordable by placing price controls on a percentage of new homes. But if almost...

Public officials have blamed Wall Street and its complex financial products for causing the 2008 economic downturn. This article addresses three popular claims saying that complex financial markets are at fault and need more regulation. It argues that even in the midst of a major economic...

F.A. Hayek focused on many traditional economic questions, and also made important contributions to law and economics. His framework differed from Kaldor Hicks efficiency and the wealth maximization norm common among neoclassical law and economics scholars. But he talked about how the common law...

Protection against criminality is a traditional function of government. Where government fails, however, people often turn to the private sector. That is why there are three times as many private security guards as public police. The need for private security is greatest for low-income families,...

This 263-page book is fascinating not only for its vivid account of the history of the American West but also for its economic analysis of the spontaneous emergence of property rights. In Hollywood movies, the center stage belongs to gunslingers who profit through violence. In The Not So Wild,...

The modern economic analyses of deception in markets is analyzed in this volume, and the particular focus is on economic concepts such as behavior and rationality in relation to deception. Behavioral developments in economics and finance are presented challenging the basic concepts of...