Send us a text Smith closes Book IV by dismantling mercantilism through the lens of colonial policy, monopoly, and rent seeking, then weighs physiocracy against the system of natural liberty. We trace why colonies grew despite Europe, not because of it, and how “wealth as money” broke policy and fueled war. • mercantilism’s definition of wealth and the balance of trade myth • monopoly and bounties as tools for concentrated gains • chapter 7 on colonies as a case study in institutional design...
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Send us a text Smith closes Book IV by dismantling mercantilism through the lens of colonial policy, monopoly, and rent seeking, then weighs physiocracy against the system of natural liberty. We trace why colonies grew despite Europe, not because of it, and how “wealth as money” broke policy and fueled war. • mercantilism’s definition of wealth and the balance of trade myth • monopoly and bounties as tools for concentrated gains • chapter 7 on colonies as a case study in institutional design...
When Bribes Become the System: Understanding Lock-In
The Answer Is Transaction Costs
25 minutes
4 months ago
When Bribes Become the System: Understanding Lock-In
Send us a text Corruption persists not because people like it, but because it becomes embedded in the incentive structure of the state, creating feedback loops that reinforce themselves and resist reform. • A prebend is a type of benefice historically given to clergymen, now a useful concept for understanding corruption in developing nations • Douglas North extended Coase's concept of transaction costs to explain why institutions matter in economics and politics • Bad institutions crea...
The Answer Is Transaction Costs
Send us a text Smith closes Book IV by dismantling mercantilism through the lens of colonial policy, monopoly, and rent seeking, then weighs physiocracy against the system of natural liberty. We trace why colonies grew despite Europe, not because of it, and how “wealth as money” broke policy and fueled war. • mercantilism’s definition of wealth and the balance of trade myth • monopoly and bounties as tools for concentrated gains • chapter 7 on colonies as a case study in institutional design...
