Organizations and Markets

Symposium on Allen’s Institutional Revolution

25 October 2013 at 9:24 am Peter G. Klein Leave a comment

| Peter Klein |

Here is a symposium on Doug Allen’s very important book The Institutional Revolution (Chicago, 2011). The symposium features essays by Deirdre McCloskey, Joel Mokyr and José-Antonio Espín-Sánchez, and our own Dick Langlois, along with a reply by Doug. The issue revolves around the role of measurement, and Doug’s thesis that reductions in measurement costs are central to improved economic performance.

My favorite line, from Doug’s reply:

I have read “The Problem of Social Cost” more times than I can recall, and study as I may, I have never found a logical error in it. But here is the point: if the author, both at the time and 30 years later, still failed to fully grasp his own perfect work, then it is an understatement to note that the ideas are subtle.

Entry filed under: - Klein -, Business/Economic History, Institutions, Law and Economics, New Institutional Economics.