Bruce L. Benson
Encyclopedia
Dr. Bruce L. Benson is an American academic economist who is widely recognized as an authority on law and economics
and a major exponent of anarcho-capitalism
legal theory. He is DeVoe L. Moore Professor and Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University
, where he serves as Chairman of the Department of Economics and a Courtesy Professor of Law. He is the recipient of the 2006 Adam Smith Award, described the highest honor bestowed by The Association of Private Enterprise Education. He is a Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute
.
or anarchist law and economics perspectives on regulation, criminalization, commercial law, and native American Law (see also: private law
, polycentric law
). His books include:
Law and economics
The economic analysis of law is an analysis of law applying methods of economics. Economic concepts are used to explain the effects of laws, to assess which legal rules are economically efficient, and to predict which legal rules will be promulgated.-Relationship to other disciplines and...
and a major exponent of anarcho-capitalism
Anarcho-capitalism
Anarcho-capitalism is a libertarian and individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state in favour of individual sovereignty in a free market...
legal theory. He is DeVoe L. Moore Professor and Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
, where he serves as Chairman of the Department of Economics and a Courtesy Professor of Law. He is the recipient of the 2006 Adam Smith Award, described the highest honor bestowed by The Association of Private Enterprise Education. He is a Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute
Independent Institute
The Independent Institute is a libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 byDavid J. Theroux , the Institute sponsors studies of major political, social, economic, legal, environmental and foreign policy issues. It has more than 140 research fellows. The Institute was...
.
Publications
Professor Benson is the author of hundreds of articles published in peer-edited economics and libertarian journals, as well as many books. He has written some of the leading libertarianLibertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
or anarchist law and economics perspectives on regulation, criminalization, commercial law, and native American Law (see also: private law
Private law
Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems...
, polycentric law
Polycentric law
Polycentric law is a legal structure in which providers of legal systems compete or overlap in a given jurisdiction, as opposed to monopolistic statutory law according to which there is a sole provider of law for each jurisdiction. Devolution of this monopoly occurs by the principle of...
). His books include:
- American Antitrust Law in Theory and in Practice (with Melvin L. Greenhut), Aldershot, England: Avebury, 1989, 265 plus xiii pages.
- The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State, San Francisco: Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, 1990, 397 plus viii pages (Award: 1991 Honorable-Mention Runner-up (among 5 finalists), Free Press Association “H. L. Mencken National Book Award.”).
- The Economic Anatomy of a Drug War: Criminal Justice in the Commons (with David W. Rasmussen), Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1994, 265 plus viii pages.
- To Serve and Protect: Privatization and Community in Criminal Justice, New York: New York University Press, 1998, 372 plus xxvii pages; with a forward by Marvin E. Wolfgang, Director, Center for Studies in Criminology, University of Pennsylvania. Edited Series: “Political Economy of the Austrian School” series, Mario Rizzo, General Editor (Award: The Atlas Economic Research Foundation's 2000 Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award recognizing “the institute that publishes a book ... in 1998 or 1999 that, in the opinion of the judges, made the greatest contribution to public understanding of the free economy” (book was written for the Independent Institute)).
- Justicie Sin Estado (Madrid: Unión Editorial, 2000) (Spanish translation of The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State, translated into Spanish by José Igncio del Catillo and Jesús Gomez)
- Self Determination: The Other Path for Native Americans, an edited volume (co-edited with Terry Anderson and Tom Flannagan), Stanford University Press, 2006, 332 plus xv pages.