A Spontaneous Order: The Capitalist Case for a Stateless Society is an astonishingly concise, rigorous, and accessible presentation of anarcho-capitalist ideals. It covers a wide range of topics including: Money and Banking, Monopolies and Cartels, Insurance, Health Care, Law, Security, Poverty, Education, Environmentalism, and more! To enjoy this compelling read requires no previous political, philosophical, or economic knowledge as all uncommon concepts are defined and explained in a simple yet uncompromising manner. Take heed, this work is liable to cause radical paradigm shifts in your understanding of both the State and Free Market.

The theory of spontaneous order conceptualises and explains a number of institutional and social phenomena that are not an intended effect of either individual decisions or a collective consensus but an unplanned outcome of interactions between people pursuing their own aims. Drawing on these insights, this book demonstrates the utility of the theory of spontaneous order in explaining many phenomena in political economy and political science. The book opens with a discussion of the history and development of the theory of spontaneous order, particularly in economics and the Austrian School. The epistemological premises of the theory are then explored including the formulation of the central idea of social individualism. Demonstrating the potential applications of the theory of spontaneous order to politics, core ideas are examined including democracy, fragile states and the concept of the veil of ignorance. Finally, the limitations and constraints of the theory of spontaneous order are also reviewed and discussed. This book marks a valuable contribution to the literature on political economy, political science, public choice and political philosophy.

When Adam Smith published his celebrated writings on economics and moral philosophy he famously referred to the operation of an 'invisible hand'. Adam Smith’s Political Philosophy makes visible this hand by examining its significance in Smith’s political philosophy and relating it to similar concepts used by other philosophers, thus revealing a distinctive approach to social theory that stresses the importance of the unintended consequences of human action. The first book to examine the history of Smith’s political philosophy from this perspective, this work introduces greater conceptual clarity to the discussion of the invisible hand and the related notion of unintended order in the work of Smith, as well as in political theory more generally. By examining the application of spontaneous order ideas in the work of Smith, Hume, Hayek and Popper, this important volume traces similarities in approach, and from these constructs a conceptual, composite model of an invisible hand argument. While setting out a clear framework of the idea of spontaneous order, the book also builds the case for using this as an explanatory social theory, with chapters on its application in the fields of science, moral philosophy, law and government.

This 1994 book was the first collection devoted to impact of natural sciences on content and form of economics in history.

"This is a serious, excellent piece of science writing ... Bratman's prose captures the core idea and gives a faithful rendering for a non-specialist audience" - Eric Smith, PhD. Coauthor of The Origin and Nature of Life: The Emergence of the Fourth Geosphere. Metabolism-First is a theory that claims life arose out of energy-driven organic chemistry in ancient hydrothermal vents. From this perspective, life is not a lucky accident but a logical consequence of early Earth conditions. Like many other processes driven by a flow of energy, the origin of life exemplifies the phenomena of spontaneous order. Metabolism-First views the biosphere as a feature of Earth as a whole, a companion to the hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere. Just as ordinary phase transitions change the properties of a liquid or gas, the biosphere can be viewed as emerging through a series of phase transitions operating on chemical reaction networks. A key concept of the theory is autocatalysis, the property of some chemicals to amplify their own rate of formation. Autocatalysis plays the same role in "chemical evolution" as Darwinian selection does in the standard theory of evolution. Additional key concepts include phase transformations, modularity and dissipative adaptation. The text includes a glossary and an annotated bibliography.

“These essays . . . bring great learning and . . . intelligence to bear upon economic and social issues of central importance to our era.” —Henry Hazlitt, Newsweek In this collection of writings, Nobel laureate Friedrich A. Hayek discusses topics from moral philosophy and the methods of the social sciences to economic theory as different aspects of the same central issue: free markets versus socialist planned economies. First published in the 1930s and 40s, these essays continue to illuminate the problems faced by developing and formerly socialist countries. F. A. Hayek, recipient of the Medal of Freedom in 1991 and winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1974, taught at the University of Chicago, the University of London, and the University of Freiburg. Among his other works published by the University of Chicago Press is The Road to Serfdom, now available in a special fiftieth anniversary edition. “There is much interesting and valuable material in this meaty . . . book which must ultimately help the world make up its mind on a vital issue: to plan or not to plan?” —S. E. Harris, The New York Times “Those who disagree with him cannot afford to ignore him . . . This is especially true of a book like the present one.” —George Soule, Nation

From the first stock markets of Amsterdam,London, and New York to the billions of electronic commerce transactions today, privately produced and enforced economic regulations are more common, more effective, and more promising than commonly considered. In Private Governance, prominent economist Edward Stringham presents case studies of the various forms of private enforcement, self-governance, or self-regulation among private groups or individuals that fill a void that government enforcement cannot. Through analytical narratives the book provides a close examination of the world's first stock markets, key elements of which were unenforceable by law; the community of Celebration, Florida, and other private communities that show how public goods can be bundled with land and provided more effectively; and the millions of credit-card transactions that occur daily and are regulated by private governance. Private Governance ultimately argues that while potential problems of private governance, such as fraud, are pervasive, so are the solutions it presents, and that much of what is orderly in the economy can be attributed to private groups and individuals. With meticulous research, Stringham demonstrates that private governance is a far more common source of order than most people realize, and that private parties have incentives to devise different mechanisms for eliminating unwanted behavior. Private Governance documents numerous examples of private order throughout history to illustrate how private governance is more resilient to internal and external pressure than is commonly believed. Stringham discusses why private governance has economic and social advantages over relying on government regulations and laws, and explores the different mechanisms that enable private governance, including sorting, reputation, assurance, and other bonding mechanisms. Challenging and rigorously-written, Private Governance will make a compelling read for those with an interest in economics, political philosophy, and the history of current Wall Street regulations.

Integrating the current research in law, economics, sociology, game theory and anthropology, this text demonstrates that people largely govern themselves by means of informal rules - social norms - without the need for a state or other central co-ordinator to lay down the law.

This volume presents much newly published work by Hayek on methodology of economics, its development as a subject, its key thinkers and its important debates. It is published in corrected, revised and annotated form with a long introduction.

''This is an important book. The authors in effect offer a positive theory of planning and urbanisation. As such, Webster and Lai''s model, based on institutional economics, is a vast improvement on some equally ambitious predecessors. The book''s insights and clarity make it a must reading for anyone seeking better understanding of how cities evolve as they do, and why planning is an integral part of their evolution.'' - Ernest Alexander, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, US ''A truly remarkable achievement.'' - Mark Pennington, University of London, UK ''Chris Webster and Lawrence Lai have created a coherent and insightful integration of concepts such as property rights, organizations, competition, incentives, transaction costs, public goods, and externalities, which will help theorists and urban practitioners analyze and manage city goods and services. An important insight of the authors is the recognition of the interdependencies of people in a neighborhood, which can be efficiently handled with shares in the property value of the neighborhood. There is a constant question of how much markets and how much government should be involved in urban matters, and the authors provide a reasoned, balanced approach which recognizes the vital role of government while appreciating the effectiveness of markets and decentralized decision making, including private institutions or" clubs" such as homeowners'' associations. Their position that governments and markets co-evolve and complement one another is sound, and their conclusions regarding the need to provide clear property rights and efficient rules provide us with theoretical tools to better understand how cities can be improved while being wary of the "allure of utopia".'' - Fred Foldvary, Santa Clara University, California, US ''This is a really important contribution to the planning literature. Beautifully written and clearly structured, it explains the complex relationship between" planning" and "markets" using the economic perspective of transaction cost theory and the" new-institutionalism". This provides a robust way of addressing the old "economic and planning" agenda, which the authors illustrate with references to cases and situations from across the world. Informative and stimulating, this should be included in every planning theory course, and will be helpful to all trying to re-think old debates about planning and markets.'' - Patsy Healey, Newcastle University, UK ''Professors Webster and Lai have written a masterly work that applies the principles of Hayek and of institutional economics to understanding cities. This is a refreshing and more convincing alternative to the standard politically correct views.'' - Harry W. Richardson, University of Southern California, US ''Property Rights, Planning and Markets covers an original and intriguing issue, viz. the existence and development of cities at the interface of market forces and planned or controlled policies ...the book offers new horizons and contains refreshing reading material.'' - Peter Nijkamp, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands This book represents a major innovation in the institutional analysis of cities and their planning, management and governance. Using concepts of transaction costs and property rights, the work shows systematically how urban order evolves as individuals co-operate in cities for mutual gain. Five kinds of urban order are examined, arising as co-operating individuals seek to reduce the costs of transacting with each other. These are organisational order (combinations of property rights), institutional order (rules and sanctions), proprietary order (fragmentation of property rights), spatial order and public domain order. Property Rights, Planning and Markets also offers an institutional interpretation of urban planning and management that challenges both the view that planning inevitably conflicts with freedom of contract and the view that its function is a means of correcting market failures. Real life examples from countries and regions around the world are used to illustrate the universal relevance of theoretical generalisations, which will be welcomed by a new generation of policymakers and students who take on a world view that goes beyond national boundaries.