This paper uses the 19th century concern with “the social question” as a vehicle to explore how the theories we use can shape, for better or for worse, our insights into our subjects of interest. Contemporary thinking mostly channels the social question into a focus on inequality in the...

This paper uses Alfred Marshall’s treatment of wants and activities and Francis Edgeworth’s treatment of utilitarian redistribution to re-examine what since the 19th century has been described as “the social question.” This comparative examination is prefaced by a distinction between...

Henry Hazlitt was a unique public intellectual, who strove to not only to enlighten the general public with his writings, speeches, and appearances on TV and radio, but sought to contribute to the specialized disciplines of economics and philosophy. The evidence supporting my conjecture that...

Nicholas Vriend (2002) asked whether F.A. Hayek was an “ace,” and answered affirmatively. By “ace,” Vriend meant someone who worked with agent-based modeling. To be sure, Hayek could not have worked with agent-based models because that platform did not exist when Hayek was developing his...

Our focus in this chapter will be on the methodological role that Stigler played in validating what he regarded as the science of economics that he had inherited from his own teacher, Frank Knight, and how this affected his understanding not only of economic theory but also public policy....

This essay explores the Chicago origin of two forms of contemporary political economy. One form was initiated at Chicago through George Stigler. The other form was initiated at Virginia through James Buchanan and is generally designated as public choice. Stigler and Buchanan were both students...

This paper examines the growing economic impact of MLB on the Dominican economy. After introducing the Dominican baseball experience, it examines the rapid growth of salaries paid to Dominican-born major league players and provides perspective on how the growth in those salaries relates to...

The paper examines local food and food production in the Dominican Republic and how local agriculture intersects with the tourism and restaurant sectors. It argues that not only has tourism created a demand for local produce, and thus provided jobs and income for Dominicans far removed from the...

The Dominican Republic is the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean islands, by a comfortable margin. More tourists visited the Dominican Republic in 2017 than Jamaica and Puerto Rico combined. Cuba, arguably the most exotic destination in the Caribbean these days, and the largest of...

Tourists – overnight visitors – to the Dominican Republic have increased from 560,000 in 1984 to 6.6 million in 2018 – a nearly 12-fold increase in 34 years. Hotel rooms and tourism jobs have increased by similar factors. The eastern tip of the island was home to only a few families in the...