George Stigler
The Market for Markets Is Captured
George Stigler posited that economic regulation is best understood as a product created via a market process. In the market for regulation, different participants—such as politicians, firms, and voters—buy and sell the rules of the game to serve their individual interests. In new research, Jac Heckelman and Bonnie Wilson use Stigler’s theory of economic regulation and special interest capture to study why foreign aid to developing countries that is tied to market reform has not successfully accomplished its goals.
Looks Can Be Deceiving: Ronald Coase and the Chicago School
Ronald Coase is typically thought of as one of the Chicago School’s brightest lights. But Coase’s relationship with Chicago was always an uneasy one,...
The Metaphysics of Regulatory Capture
Stiglerian capture and corrosive cultural capture, its left-leaning parallel, are ostensibly symbionts, two attempts at identifying impediments to keeping markets competitive by preventing the...
Assessing George Stigler’s Economic Theory of Regulation
Despite its flaws and limitations, Stigler’s seminal article on the theory of economic regulation remains an important piece of scholarship worthy of continued engagement,...
The Many Faces of Stigler’s Theory of Economic Regulation: Interest Group Politics Still Thrives—But Industry Often Comes Second
Stigler treats industry groups as the heavyweights in regulatory contests. But surprisingly often groups of farmers and workers knock them for a loop in...
George Stigler’s Errors and Their Virtues
George Stigler might have been wrong in his essay on economic regulation, but his influence is undeniable. The unity of purpose in his writings...
George Stigler on Henry Simons, “Crown Prince” of the Chicago School
To mark 75 years since the passing of Henry Simons, professor of Economics and Law at the University of Chicago, ProMarket is republishing George...
George Stigler and the Challenge of Democracy
We are all victims of what George Stigler described as “the pervasive use of state support of special groups” and of governance failures everywhere....
Let’s Not Forget George Stigler’s Lessons about Regulatory Capture
George Stigler’s theory of economic regulation opened our eyes to the rent-seeking that undermines the public interest. Yet many in positions to influence policy...
George Stigler’s Paper on Regulation and the Rise of Political Economy
George Stigler’s “The Theory of Economic Regulation” is not just the founding paper of economics of regulation. It is also a founding paper of...
