While some view the informal economy as parasitic, others view it in a more positive light. We argue that the effect of the informal economy on development depends on both the size of the locale and the institutional environment. Good institutions facilitate productive activity and voluntary...

This paper applies the logic of economic calculation to the actions of autocrats. We model autocrats as stationary bandits who use profit-and-loss calculations to select institutions that maximize their extraction rents. We find in many cases autocrats achieve rent maximization through creating...

This paper applies the logic of economic calculation to the actions of autocrats. We model autocrats as stationary bandits who use profit and loss calculations to select institutions that maximize their extraction rents. We find in many cases autocrats achieve rent maximization through creating...

This is a condensed version of Salter and Tarko (2018), presented at the Austrian Economics in the 21st Century conference in Rosario, Argentina. I argue that current perspectives on banking and financial regulation, including newly popular proposals for macroprudential regulation, cannot...