The supremacy of Parliament and the embedding of property rights in Common Law put political power in the hands of men anxious to exploit the new economic opportunities and provided the framework for a judicial system to protect and encourage… — Douglass North Copy Share Image
What the war did was give me the opportunity of three years of continuous reading, and it was in the course of reading that I became convinced that I should become an economist. — Douglass North Copy Share Image
I went back to graduate school with the clear intention that what I wanted to do with my life was to improve societies, and… — Douglass North Copy Share Image
To predict the future we would have to know today what we will learn tomorrow which will shape our future actions — Douglass North Copy Share Image
The evolution of government from its medieval, Mafia-like character to that embodying modern legal institutions and instruments is a major part of the history… — Douglass North Copy Share Image
I went to elementary school in Ottawa, and then to a private secondary school. — Douglass North Copy Share Image
Information costs are reduced by the existence of large numbers of buyers and sellers. Under these conditions, prices embody the same information that would… — Douglass North Copy Share Image
My early work and publications centered around expanding on the analysis of life insurance in my dissertation and its relationship to investment banking. — Douglass North Copy Share Image
Conformity can be costly in a world of uncertainty which requires innovative institutional creation because no one can know the right path to survival.… — Douglass North Copy Share Image
When it came time to go to college, I had been accepted for Harvard when my father was offered the position of head of… — Douglass North Copy Share Image
I would be remiss if I left the impression that my life has been totally preoccupied with scholarly research. — Douglass North Copy Share Image
In 1972 I married again, to Elisabeth Case; she continues to be wife, companion, critic and editor: a partner in the projects and programs… — Douglass North Copy Share Image
The development of a political-economic framework to explore long-run institutional change occupied me during all of the 1980s and led to the publication of… — Douglass North Copy Share Image
I continue to be a photographer; I have enjoyed fishing and hunting with a close friend; and have owned two ranches, first in northern… — Douglass North Copy Share Image
