Due North (HT to Arnold Kling)

One of the bloggers I frequently enjoy is Arnold Kling who is a regular on EconLog: Library of Economics & Liberty, as well as on TCS Daily. On the latter he has recently done essays on one of my favorite economists/authors, Douglass North, found here and here.

For those of you unfamiliar with North's work, he is an economic historian and winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in economics. Much of his work has to do with the impact of economic institutions on choice and change. North does not refer so much to the physical structures and organizations where we transact business. Rather he defines institutions as the rules (formal and informal) that we establish for ourselves to influence our decision-making, and the impact those rules can have over time. If you're interested in learning more about Douglass North, I encourage you to pick up a couple of his books. My favorites include Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance and Structure and Change in Economic History. Both should be easy to find through a bookstore (traditional or on-line) or your library. Also, if you're interested, you can read his Nobel Prize lecture.

Your opinions are welcome.

Posted by TSchilling at June 22, 2007 2:16 PM



What a fantastic resource...Thanks.

Posted by: mike fladlien at June 22, 2007 5:01 PM