 | Rethinking Institutional Analysis: Interviews with Vincent and Elinor Ostrom
October 12, 2009 Research Papers/Studies Paul Dragos Aligica |
| On November 7th, 2003, the Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Orders, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and the Institute for Humane Studies honored Vincent and Elinor Ostrom with a Lifetime Achievement Award for their pioneering contributions to the field of political economy through their work on institutional reform, common pool resources, self-governance, and a variety of other topics. In honor of this award, Paul Dragos Aligica interviewed the scholars on their work in institutional analysis.
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 | Challenging Institutional Analysis and Development
October 12, 2009 Books Paul Dragos Aligica,
Peter Boettke |
| The Bloomington School, has become one of the most dynamic, well recognized and productive centers of the New Institutional Theory movement. Its ascendancy is considered to be the result of a unique and extremely successful combination of interdisciplinary theoretical approaches and hard-nosed empiricism. This book demonstrates that the well-known interdisciplinary and empirical agenda of Bloomington research program is the result of a less-known but very bold proposition: an attempt to revitalize and extend into the new millennium a traditional mode of analysis illustrated by authors like Locke, Montesquieu, Hume, Adam Smith, Hamilton, Madison and Tocqueville.
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 | Julian Simon and the 'Limits to Growth' Neo-Malthusianism
July 11, 2009 Journal Articles Paul Dragos Aligica |
| By the time of his death in 1998 at age 65, Julian Simon had already established for himself the reputation of “doomslayer”, “one of those people who took on the thankless task of talking sense on a subject where nonsense is all the rage” and of a man “set out to explain what happened in the real world, not what happens in abstract models or popular hysteria” (Sowell, 1998). Whether one agrees with his views or not, an overview of his key arguments is an important step towards a clearer understanding of the intellectual history and significance of one of the most salient and sensitive themes emerging on the public agenda during the second half of the 20th century.
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| Epistemology, Social Technology, and Expert Judgement
June 1, 2009 Journal Articles Paul Dragos Aligica,
R. Herritt |
| The article discusses Olaf Helmer's contribution to the development of futures studies by focusing on four basic theses defining his approach. (1) Quasi-laws in social sciences and futures studies can in fact be treated in the same way that the natural laws of the physical sciences. (2) In order to make predictions, one need not appeal to a strict logical derivation, as the “covering laws” doctrine of logical-empiricism suggests. (3) Prediction and explanation are not logically symmetrical as positivists believe, thus the conditions needed for explanation are not those required for prediction. (4) Local, tacit, personal and expert knowledge are crucial in developing a foresight methodology.
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 | In Defense of Thinking
April 28, 2009 Books Kenneth R. Weinstein,
Paul Dragos Aligica |
| By the time of his untimely death in 1983, Herman Kahn was recognized by both friends and intellectual adversaries as "one of the world's most creative and best minds." The current growing resurgence of interest in Kahn's ideas and intellectual legacy demonstrates the enduring relevance of his work. Yet, in spite of the constant influence of his arguments, there is a shortage of books summarizing Kahn's essential contributions, and thus his work is not as well known as it should be. The Essential Herman Kahn is an attempt to cope with this predicament and offer the public for the first time an anthology consisting of the essence of Kahn's work, organized thematically.
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| Social Predictions, Institutional Design and Prestige Loops
April 28, 2009 Journal Articles Paul Dragos Aligica |
| This paper describes Richard Henshel's contribution to the field of future studies, with a particular emphasis on his use of "prestige loops" in the context of social predictions and institutional design.
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| Julian Simon and the 'Limits to Growth' Neo-Malthusianism - Working Paper
April 20, 2009 Working Papers Paul Dragos Aligica |
| By the time of his death in 1998 at age 65, Julian Simon had already established for himself the reputation of “doomslayer”, “one of those people who took on the thankless task of talking sense on a subject where nonsense is all the rage” and of a man “set out to explain what happened in the real world, not what happens in abstract models or popular hysteria” (Sowell, 1998). Whether one agrees with his views or not, an overview of his key arguments is an important step towards a clearer understanding of the intellectual history and significance of one of the most salient and sensitive themes emerging on the public agenda during the second half of the 20th century.
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 | The Neoliberal Revolution In Eastern Europe: Economic Ideas in the Transition from Communism
March 13, 2009 Books Anthony J. Evans,
Paul Dragos Aligica |
| Very few studies have ventured to explore the shift in economic ideas that were such a critical factor in shaping and understanding the East European transition process. Paul Dragos Aligica and Anthony J. Evans have seized upon the potential that this crucial case has to illuminate the larger phenomenon of diffusion and adoption of economic ideas.
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| From the ''Democracy of Nations'' to Stakeholder Based Governance Systems
August 12, 2008 Books Paul Dragos Aligica |
| What is the future of democracy as an institutional design principle of international governance? How is the idea of organizing the international arena as a “democracy of nations” going to be affected by globalization? Is progress in international governance tantamount to an increase in the democratization of the relationships between states? How viable is the ideal of an international system defined formally in terms of equality, and informally in terms of democracy? These questions invite an exploration into the problematic territory of conjectures and speculations -- a domain that has a highly ambiguous status in the social sciences.
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| The Challenge of Business Self-Regulation: Revisiting the Foundations
June 1, 2008 Journal Articles Paul Dragos Aligica |
| Regulation without external enforcement has always been a focal point for explorations into the relationship between morality and economic behavior. Are self-regulatory arrangements viable? Are they stable? What are the factors and conditions that determine their stability and viability? Using these questions as a vehicle, the article explores the functional anatomy of self-regulation. |
