Cato Journal (Spring/Summer 1997): [T]he
book contains several articles that are already classics in the burgeoning
interdisciplinary field of human cooperation . . . The book will be welcomed by
economists, sociologists, historians, and others seeking to understand what makes people
work together to pursue mutually beneficial interests. Besides its value to specialists,
it could serve as a supplement for an advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate course
on the economics of cooperation. -- Richard E. Messick, Instituto Libertad y Democracia
The Freeman (March 1998): Fascinating, stimulating, and highly
enlightening, Reputation is a most valuable contribution to our understanding of free
markets and how they work. More than that, it is a powerful and timely weapon in the
struggle against statism, going far to disprove the canard that people cannot be trusted
with freedom. -- John Attarian
Civnet (August-Sept. 1997): . . . a series of elegant and fascinating
studies of the functioning institutions of civil society -- the ones that work so well
that we don't normally notice them. . . . Serious discussion of civil society cannot
proceed without the kind of rigorous attention to the actual institutions and practices
that make trust among strangers possible. There is no better place to start than Reputation
. . . Trust me. -- Tom G. Palmer, Cato Institute
World (June 28, 1997): . . . shows how free markets can handle many of
the problems that today we routinely hand over to government. . . . It suggests that
radical deregulation would both protect the public and save money. -- Doug Bandow
Consumers' Research (July 1998): . . . underscores the superior ability
of the marketplace over governmental efforts to root out the rascally "untrustworthy
promisor." As Klein explains: "A vote for coercive government measures must rest
on the belief that this rascal cannot be adequately foiled by the open-ended, voluntary
processes generated by resourceful middlemen, qualified knowers, trustworthy promisors,
and wary consumers who purposively seek pointed knowledge." -- Peter Spencer, Consumers'
Research
Back to Dan Klein's Books
Back to Dan Klein's Homepage