What made Ronald Coase (1920-2013) one of the greatest and most influential economists of the past century? One factor was his persistent focus on understanding real-world institutions at a time when many of his peers were increasingly drawn to abstract theory for its own sake.

Economic History and DevelopmentEconomic PolicyEconomistsEconomyPhilosophy and Religion
Other Independent Review articles by John V. C. Nye
Summer 2016 Douglass C. North: The Restless Innovator
Summer 2008 From the Corn Laws to Free Trade: Interests, Ideas, and Institutions in Historical Perspective
Spring 1997 Democracy and International Trade: Britain, France, and the United States, 1860–1990