Fred E. Foldvary

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fred E. Foldvary is a lecturer in economics at Santa Clara University, California, and a research fellow at The Independent Institute. He is also a commentator and senior editor for the online journal "The Progress Report".

In his PhD dissertation (George Mason University, 1992), "Public Goods and Private Communities", he attempted to apply the theory of Public goods and Industrial organizations to a range of private communities. His research interests include "ethical philosophy", governance, land economics and public finance.

His support of georgist economics, along with his advocacy of civil liberties and free markets has gained him a place of high visibility in the geolibertarian movement. [1] In 2000, he ran for Congress in California's 9th District as a Libertarian. [2]

Foldvary is also concerned about slavery in chocolate production. He advocates among other things, compulsory labels on chocolate products or on the shelves where chocolate products are sold. This would, Foldvary states, decrease the demand for chocolate products, which are not certified free of slave labour. Manufacturers and suppliers would therefore apply pressure to ensure that cocoa they used was certified slave-free and farms using slaves would lose business. The above is not a market intervention, he contends, as it enables customers who oppose slavery to make informed choices.[3] For more information see Chocolate and slavery.

[edit] Books

The Half-Life of Policy Rationales: How Technology Affects Old Policy Issues (ed., with Daniel Klein, 2003)
Dictionary of Free Market Economics (1998)
Public Goods and Private Communities (1994)
The Soul of Liberty (1980)