The Early Life of Charles Tiebout

Abstract

Charles Mills Tiebout revolutionized Public Choice through his development of a model which describes how local governments may attract footloose residents who seek a community that affords them the best opportunity to achieve happiness. That his ideas were novel and intellectually brave should not come as a surprise for the family name Tiebout comes from a Dutch word meaning ‘brave’ or ‘bold’. Furthermore, the New World patriarch of the family did much to forge the meaning of his family’s name.