Peter Boettke is a university professor of economics at George Mason University, the BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism, vice president for research, and research director for the Global Prosperity Initiative at the Mercatus Center, and the deputy director of the James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy.

Donald J. Boudreaux is Professor of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He was the Chairman of the Department of Economics from August 2001 to August 2009. Previously, he was president of the Foundation for Economic Education (1997-2001); Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Economics at Clemson University (1992-1997); and Assistant Professor of Economics at George Mason University (1985-1989).

Why is it that some countries adopted growth enhancing institutions earlier than others during the early-modern period? We address this question through a comparative study of the evolution of French and Ottoman fiscal institutions.

Can anarchy be efficient? This paper argues that for reasons of efficiency, rational, wealth-maximizing agents may actually choose statelessness over government in some cases.

Ordinary economics teaches that markets continually adjust to scarce resources. This paper demonstrates how modern economic theory has neglected ordinary economics in favor of static equilibrium analysis, which led to unrestrained government spending and expansionist monetary policy throughout the 20th century.

The financial crisis of 2008 challenged the public consensus supporting free market economies. This paper argues that the current shift in favor of heavy regulation and government intervention in the economy arises from a failure in the economic discourse concerning what constitutes market efficiency, the costs of government intervention, and the role of public policy.

This paper is Peter J. Boettke's speech at the twelfth Sir Ronald Trotter Lecture in New Zealand. Sir Ronald Trotter was the first chairman of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, who was knighted in 1985 for services to business. The Sir Ronald Trotter Lecture was instituted in 1995 by the New Zealand Business Roundtable to mark Sir Ronald Trotter’s many contributions to public affairs in New Zealand. It is given annually by a distinguished international speaker on a major topic of public policy.

On October 19, 2004, Mercatus Center Senior Fellow Frederic Sautet delivered a presentation on institutions and entrepreneurship to the New Zealand Business Roundtable (NZBR). This talk was part of the NZBR's ongoing relationship with scholars from around the world. In the presentation Dr. Sautet explained the importance of institutions in fostering entrepreneurial activity.