Tag Archives: Joseph Schumpeter

Why do firms exist?

Ronald Coase, the economist who theorised the reason for the existence of firms, turns 100 today. The Economist’s Schumpeter column has this really nice piece about him: His central insight was that firms exist because going to the market all the time can impose heavy transaction costs. You need to hire workers, negotiate prices and… Read More »

On methodological individualism

Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute is getting worried about methodological individualism: I’m getting worried about methodological individualism. Yes, I know that ‘society’ has no life or will or organizing mind of its own, as Marx seemed to assume, and that it is just the aggregation of individuals’ decisions and actions. I know… Read More »