Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Query on slavery

[Jim Devine]

At 10:20 AM 10/20/00 -0500, you wrote:
>I didn't realize that neo-classicals assume that what exists is efficient.
>Do you have a reference?

I'd say that it's only the Chicago school that makes that assumption, but 
they assume that the state is an exception to that rule. The clearest 
example of this view is North & Thomas's take on feudalism (serfdom), which 
they see as efficient.

Of course, there are at least four different kinds of "efficiency," 
including technical efficiency, private economic efficiency, social 
economic efficiency, and Pareto Optimality. A capitalist competitive market 
encourages private economic efficiency (private cost minimization) but not 
social economic efficiency.

Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine