::George Mason University Department of Economics
::Georgetown University Department of Economics

Thomas Rustici's Weblog
::The Science of Economics

Scholarship and Commentary by Thomas Rustici

::A Public Choice View of the Minimum Wage in Cato Journal

::Removing Individual Health Risk From Health Insurance? Incremental Regulation Versus Market Choices at Competitive Enterprise Institute

Other Scholarship

::Donald J. Boudreaux
::Peter Boettke
::Tyler Cowen
::Alex Tabarrok
::Walter Williams

Policy & Economics Links
Institutes and Foundations

::Ayn Rand Institute
::Cato Institute
::Center for the Advancement of Capitalism
::Center for Freedom and Prosperity
::Center for the Study of Public Choice
::Constitution Society
::Competitive Enterprise Institute
::Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
::Foundation for Economic Education
::Fund for American Studies
::Future of Freedom Foundation
::Goldwater Institute
::Institute on Political Journalism
::Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science
::Iowa Electronic Markets
::James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy
::Library of Economics and Liberty
::The Locke Institute
::Mercatus Center
::National Center For Public Policy Research
::Political Economy Research Center
::Public Choice Foundation

Punditry

::Capitalism Magazine
::Instapundit
::Marginal Revolution
::Rule of Reason
::Rush Limbaugh
::Sean Hannity
::Volokh Conspiracy

Online History

::Isaac DiIanni's Required Readings in Economics
 ::Rudy Rummels' Webpage
::Museum of Communism
::Economic History Services
::History of Economics Online
::McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought
::Test Your Knowledge of Communist History

Law 108: Economic Foundations of Legal Studies
This course is designed to familiarize students with the fundamentals of microeconomic theory. The central focus this course takes is an understanding of the process of price formation in a free exchange economy. We rigorously examine the various legal rules and economic incentives that operate within the constitutional free enterprise system. Market institutions such as: the firm, advertising, profit-loss mechanism, futures speculation, and property rights are explored for their role in the coordination of economic activity. Finally these principles are applied to the larger issues of economic regulation, environmental quality, and the “political marketplace” of representative democracy.

::Syllabus

Online Class Readings

• Thomas J. DiLorenzo, The Origins of Antitrust- An Interest Group Perspective, International Review of Law and Economics (June 1985).
• Dwight R. Lee and Robert F. McKnown, "Order From Chaos" Economics in our time, concepts and issues (1983) p. 15-25.

• Thomas Rustici, A Public Choice View of The Minimum Wage
• D. Deere, K. M. Murphy, and Finis Welch, Sense and Nonsense on the Minimum Wage
• Hugh Rockoff, Price Controls
• Walter Block, Rent Control
• David Ricardo, On Foreign Trade
• Frederic Bastiat, The Candlemaker’s Petition
• Ronald Coase, The Nature Of The Firm Economica, New Series, Vol. 4, No. 16. (Nov., 1937), pp. 386-405
• A. Alchian and H. Demsetz, Production, Information Costs and Economic Organization The American Economic Review, Vol. 62, No. 5. (Dec., 1972), pp. 777-795
• James Madison, Federalist 10 & 51
• Richard Posner, Taxation by Regulation The Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science, Vol. 2, No. 1. (Spring, 1971), pp. 22-50.
• George Stigler, The Theory of Economic Regulation The Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science, Vol. 2, No. 1. (Spring, 1971), pp. 3-21.
• F. McChesney, Rent Extraction and Rent Creation in the Economic Theory of Regulation The Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1. (Jan., 1987), pp. 101-118.
• Bruce Yandle, Bootleggers and Baptists
• Fred S. McChesney, Antitrust
• Faith, Roger L, Leavens, Donald R, Tollison, Robert D, Antitrust Pork Barrel Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 25, No. 2. (Oct., 1982), pp. 329-342.
• John McGee, Predatory Price Cutting: The Standard Oil (NJ) Case Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 1. (Oct., 1958), pp. 137-169.
• Independent Institute: Theory, Evidence, and Examples of FDA Harm
• W. Kip Viscusi, Job Safety
• John Baden and Richard Stroup, Saving the Wilderness Reason 13(July): 28–36
• Robert Smith, Resolving the Tragedy of the Commons
• Terry Anderson, Nature’s Entrepreneurs
• Fred Smith, Risks and the Modern World

Click here for texts available through GMU e-reserves.