This intriguing collection is designed to show how
economists can play a more active role in designing and
directing the nation's social institutions. By taking the
task of political economy seriously, the contributors
(including some of today's most distinguished economists)
reveal the power of economic thought to offer innovative
solutions to some of the most difficult problems facing
society today. By creating markets where none existed
before, the authors propose efficient, reliable, and
profitable improvements to current systems of health
insurance, financial markets, human organ distribution,
judicial practice, bankruptcy and securities regulation,
patenting, and transportation. Written in the
entrepreneurial spirit, these essays show economics to be an
ambitious, dynamic, and far-from-dismal science.