Welcome!

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This new blog was started to think about ideas in the area of institutional law and economics.  We will be posing as often as possible as we explore ideas in the frame of reference created by A.Allan Schmid, Warren Samuels, Dan Bromley, David Schweikhardt and others from the Great Lakes tradition of Institutional economics.

Here are some starting resources:

https://msu.edu/user/schmid/instecon.htm

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00213624.2017.1368314

https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/schmid_a


A few initial thoughts based on writings from Al Schmid and his first edition book, Property, Power and Public Choice published in 1978.  Lets start with a direct quote, "the system of analysis used here begins with the fact of human interdependence.  It is the public choice of property rights (institutions) that control and direct this interdependence and shape the opportunity sets of the interacting parties."

In these two sentences, we can unpack a lot of information and insight.  We start with interdependence.  Al started with the idea that we get in each others hair and that especially in the modern economy we are tied together.  This is not the Robinson Crusoe economy where each individual simply works on their own accord to raise their own product.  Ultimately, Schmid will lay out several forms of interdependence.

The second part of this passage is related to property rights and institutions.  In the institutional law and economics school, institutions are thought of as the collection action that guides and shapes individual action.  They come in the form of informal and formal structures.  The informal structures are the customs and morals of a community while formal structures relate to written laws and rules as examples.  The other key word to note here is "public".  Schmid focuses our attention of the fact that a choice is being made by a group of individuals in some form to set these rules.  These are not natural laws or immutable laws of nature but choices that are being made about how to deal with the interdependence discussed above.

Thanks!

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