Universal Economics
- Armen A. Alchian (author)
- William Richard Allen (author)
- Jerry L. Jordan (editor)
Universal Economics shows the critical importance of property rights to the existence and success of market economies.
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The authors explain the interconnection between goods prices and productive-asset prices and how market-determined interest rates bring about the allocation of resources toward the satisfaction of consumption demands versus saving/investment priorities. They show how the crucial role of prices in a market economy cannot be well understood without a firm grasp of the role of money in the modern world. The Alchian and Allen application of information and search-cost analysis to the subject of money, price determination, and inflation is unique in the teaching of economic principles.
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Key Quotes
Economics
Critical Responses
Book
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and MoneyJohn Maynard Kaynes
Alchian’s critique of Keynes’s theory of investment (1955) is a classic in investment theory while his work on unemployment (1969) was one of the first to consider the natural rate of unemployment arising from “job search”.
Book
Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic PerformanceDouglass North
While Alchian and Allen focus on price theory, North argues that institutions and historical processes shape economic outcomes in ways that markets alone cannot explain.
Connected Readings
Econlib Article
Why Did Armen Alchian Have to Teach Economists About Property Rights?Peter J. Boettke
