Recent studies in psychology and neuroscience find that fictional works exert strong influence on readers and shape their opinions and worldviews. We study the Potterian economy, which we compare to economic models, to assess how Harry Potter books affect economic literacy. We find that some...

What role does government play in the provision of public goods? Economists have used the lighthouse as an empirical example to illustrate the extent to which the private provision of public goods is possible. This inquiry, however, has neglected the private provision of lightships. We...

This paper presents a tractable and parsimonious theory of political revolutions in societies devoid of democratic processes. I frame a society constituting a ruler seeking to prevent uprising and a revolutionary leader attempting to induce revolt. Both seek to appeal to a populace consisting of...