WEBWORKSHOP ON INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS
NOVEMBER 28 - DECEMBER 7, 2022
ONLINE
LECTURE BY BARRY WEINGAST

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LIBERTY, THE EMERGENCE OF THE RULE OF LAW, AND THE NEOCLASSICAL FALLACY
BARRY WEINGAST
NOVEMBER 21, 2022

View the lecture here.
(Also accessible here on YouTube.)

Barry Weingast asks, what is liberty and why should we care about it. He argues that four conditions comprise the foundations of liberty and the rule of law: contract enforcement, secure property rights, absense of arbitrary government, and security from foes. The neoclassical approach typically assumes these exist. but historical evidence differs from this. Smith and Hayek emphasize that freedom emerged only slowly from the violence that characterized most of history. Weingast explores these ideas in depth.

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Barry R. Weingast is the Ward C. Krebs Family Professor, Department of Political Science, and a Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.