Coase’s View of Economics

Abstract

Ronald Coase was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 1991. This award attests to the fact that his work has been widely read, widely cited, and has had enormous influence within the field of economics. Yet, in 1988, Coase writes that ‘My point of view has not in general commanded assent, nor has my argument, for the most part, been understood’ (Coase, 1988e, p. 1). The reason for this, he asserts, is that ‘most economists have a different way of looking at economic problems and do not share my conception of the nature of our subject’ (Coase, 1988e, p.1). This raises two important questions: what is Coase’s view of the nature of economics as commonly practised and what is Coase’s view of how we should do economics?

‘I have a tendency, against which I should, perhaps, be on my guard, to swim against the stream’ — Winston Churchill.