Is There a Government Intervention in Cities?

Can law, order, and defense be provided on the market? Why can't they be normal goods? We are joined by economist Edward Stringham to discuss his fascinating work on free market anarchism and private governance. Stringham examines the economic of government from an Austrian perspective, and clearly shows how the world is increasingly relying on private voluntary legal and defense services rather than inefficient monopolies. We also apply these ideas to examine the concept of public health, and Stringham's work at the American Institute for Economic Research on the Great Barrington Declaration.

References

• Book: Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life - https://www.amazon.com/Private-Governance-Creating-Economic-Social/dp/0199365164 
• Book: Anarchy and The Law: The Political Economy of Choice - https://www.amazon.com/Anarchy-Law-Political-Economy-Independent/dp/1412805791 
• Great Barrington Declaration - https://gbdeclaration.org/ 
• SSRN papers - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=685664 
• Coronavirus and Economic Crisis, AIER - https://www.aier.org/product/coronavirus-and-economic-crisis/ 
• Private Policing in San Francisco - https://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=2672 
• Edward's Twitter - https://twitter.com/edstringham 
• Edward's Website - https://edwardpeterstringham.wordpress.com/ 
• Edward's Profile on AIER - https://www.aier.org/people/edward-peter-stringham/ 

Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses – including his ongoing course ECO22: The Fiat Standard – and read chapters of his forthcoming book, Principles of Economics, by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.