Despite all the efforts of art dealers, the number of Rembrandts existing at a given time is limited; yet such paintings are commonly disposed of by auction.
You get more irrationality within the family and in consumer behavior than you get, say, in the behavior of firms in their purchases.
The pollution problem is always seen as someone who was doing something bad that has to be stopped. To me, pollution is doing something bad and good. People don't pollute because they like polluting. They do it because it's a cheaper way of producing something else.
There is no doubt that the recognition by economists of the importance of the role of the firm in the functioning of the economy will prompt them to investigate its activities more closely.
What I have done is to show the importance for the working of the economic system of what may be termed the institutional structure of production.
I'm no enthusiast for the Coase Theorem. I don't like it, but it's widely used.
I tend to regard the Coase theorem as a stepping stone on the way to an analysis of an economy with positive transaction costs.
You wouldn't think there was a need for a Coase Theorem, really.
