Beni pubblici e contratto sociale, una nuova soluzione

Public Goods and Social Contract, a New Solution

Abstract disponibile solo in lingua inglese

The paper is a review of Anthony de Jasay's latest book, Social Contract, Free Ride: A Study of the Public Goods Problem. The author analyses de Jasay's new solution to the public goods problem, and his confutation of the axiom at the base of contractualist theories whereby the contract is necessary in solving this very problem. In the author's view, de Jasay's solution constitutes an important theoretical breakthrough and may be used as a basis for planning strategies to curb and invert the trend towards Big Government, which, in the course of the twentieth century, has reduced individual liberty in all Western democracies.