Economic History

Economic History

EXPERTS

Peter J. Boettke image  

Peter J. Boettke

  • Vice President for Research
  • BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism
  • University Professor of Economics, George Mason University
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 image  

Donald J. Boudreaux

  • Mercatus Center Senior Education Advisor
  • Professor of Economics, George Mason University
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).

PUBLISHED RESEARCH

The Journal of Economic History

Fiscal Crisis and Institutional Change in the Ottoman Empire and France

Noel D. Johnson, Eliana Balla | Oct 23, 2009
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.

Journal Article

Efficient Anarchy

Peter Leeson | Apr 02, 2007
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.

WORKING PAPERS

The Ordinary Economics of an Extraordinary Crisis image

The Ordinary Economics of an Extraordinary Crisis

Peter J. Boettke, William Luther | Jun 2009
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.

What Happened to 'Efficient Markets'? image

What Happened to 'Efficient Markets'?

Peter J. Boettke | Jun 2009
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.

SPEECHES & PRESENTATIONS

The Battle of Ideas: Economics and the Struggle for a Better World

Peter J. Boettke | Aug 07, 2007
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.

The Formal, the Informal and the Three Entrepreneurs

Frederic Sautet | Nov 19, 2004
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.

MEDIA CLIPPINGS

Salon.com

Another Milton Friedman Chile quake aftershock

Tyler Cowen | Mar 04, 2010
In the wake of the Chile earthquake, Tyler Cowen grades Pinochet's economic policies.

CSPAN.org

Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations

Russell Roberts | Feb 16, 2010
Russell Roberts and Samuel Fleischacker discuss the historical importance and impact of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations on the social sciences.