Buchanan's liberal theory of political economy : a valiant but failed effort to square the circle / Richard E. Wagner -- Buchanan on ethics and self-interest in politics : a contradiction or reconciliation? / Roger D. Congleton -- Constitutional hopes and post-constitutional fears : the role of...

The term “marketplace of ideas” is thoroughly misleading. This phrase is often used to suggest that bad ideas are “defeated” by better ideas in public discourse. In the field of economics, for example, it is commonly assumed that the mainstream, precisely because it is the mainstream,...

Alternative schools of economic thought are defined relative to the current mainstream of economic theory. This article examines the path of mainstream economics during the twentieth century and the challenges presented to the mainstream by various alternative schools of economic thinking, such...

What role does government play in determining the medium of exchange? Economists weighing in on the issue have typically espoused one of two views. State theorists credit government with the emergence and continued acceptance of commonly accepted media of exchange. In contrast, spontaneous order...

What role does government play in determining the medium of exchange? Economists weighing in on the issue typically espouse one of two views. State theorists credit government with the emergence and continued acceptance of commonly accepted media of exchange. In contrast, spontaneous order...

What determines the kinds of questions economists ask and the answers they find convincing? More generally, why are the institutions that constitute scholarly economics the way they are? I answer both of these questions by positing that within the modern economics profession, it is plausible...