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The Way Things Work: The Empirical Bent of Economists—Ronald Coase on George Stigler

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Abstract

Ronald Coase and George Stigler share an affection and a great deal of respect for each other. Yet, in Coase’s own words, Stigler definitively failed to comprehend the work, method and objective of his work. Coase continued to see himself as residing firmly within the tradition of Stigler’s teacher, Frank Knight, while Stigler prided himself on his break and ultimate detachment from the Chicago figure who dominated the department between the World Wars. In this conversation, Coase discusses his own work, that of George Stigler and even the infamous Coase Theorem.

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Acknowledgements

I feel obliged to thank, belatedly, Ronald Coase for proving to me that there is in fact such a thing as a free lunch. I would have happily bought both mine and that of Professor Coase in return for such a delightful 80 minutes. Of course, I cannot say enough about his generosity in giving of both his time and ideas so freely.

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  1. University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Craig Freedman

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  1. University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Craig Freedman

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Freedman, C. (2020). The Way Things Work: The Empirical Bent of Economists—Ronald Coase on George Stigler. In: Freedman, C. (eds) George Stigler. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56815-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56815-1_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56814-4

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