Fred Emanuel Foldvary (May 11, 1946 – June 5, 2021) was a lecturer in
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
at
San Jose State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and a research fellow at
The Independent Institute
The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux, the institute focuses on political, social, economic, legal, environmental, and foreign policy issues. It has more ...
. He previously taught at
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...
and other colleges. He was also a commentator and senior editor for the online journal ''
The Progress Report
''The Progress Report'' is a Canadian left-wing newsletter and podcast published by Progress Alberta and operated by Duncan Kinney.
Organisation
''The Progress Report'' is a newsletter and podcast written and hosted by Duncan Kinney. Its wo ...
'' and an associate editor of the online journal ''
Econ Journal Watch.'' He served on the board of directors for the
Robert Schalkenbach Foundation
The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation is a private operating foundation dedicated to the social and economic philosophy of Henry George.
History
The organization was founded in 1925 to promote public awareness of the social and economic philosophy ...
.
Work
In his PhD dissertation (
George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...
, 1992) titled "Public Goods and Private Communities", Foldvary applied the theory of
public goods and
Industrial organization to refute the concept of
market failure
In neoclassical economics, market failure is a situation in which the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not Pareto efficient, often leading to a net loss of economic value. Market failures can be viewed as scenarios where indiv ...
, including case studies of several types of private communities. His research interests included
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
,
governance
Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...
,
land economics
In economics, land comprises all naturally occurring resources as well as geographic land. Examples include particular geographical locations, mineral deposits, forests, fish stocks, atmospheric quality, geostationary orbits, and portions of t ...
and
public finance.
His support of
geolibertarianism (a
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
ideology which embraces the
Georgist
Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—including ...
philosophy of property) and his
advocacy
Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...
of
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
and
free markets have gained him a place of high visibility in the
geolibertarian
Geolibertarianism is a political and economic ideology that integrates libertarianism with Georgism. It favors a taxation system based (as in Georgism) on income derived from land and natural resources instead of on labor, coupled with a minim ...
movement. In
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, he ran for
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
in California's 9th District as a
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
. He received 3.3% of the total vote to finish third among the four candidates on the ballot.
Foldvary wrote on topics including ending
slavery in chocolate plantations; a
green tax shift
An environmental tax, ecotax (short for ecological taxation), or green tax is a tax levied on activities which are considered to be harmful to the environment and is intended to promote environmentally friendly activities via economic incentives. ...
to protect the environment while enhancing the economy; reforming
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
with small-group voting; and solving
territorial conflict
A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities.
Context and definitions
Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...
with
confederations and the
payment of rent for occupied land. Three central and recurring themes of Foldvary's writing are the
universal ethic
Moral universalism (also called moral objectivism) is the meta-ethical position that some system of ethics, or a universal ethic, applies universally, that is, for "all similarly situated individuals", regardless of culture, race, sex, religio ...
,
cellular democracy
As developed by geolibertarian political economist Fred E. Foldvary, cellular democracy is a model of democracy based on multi-level bottom-up structures in either small neighborhood governmental districts or contractual communities.
Councils
In ...
, and
public revenue from land rent.
In 1998, he predicted there would be a real estate-related recession in 2008 and a tech bubble collapse in the year 1999 or 2000. In 2007, Foldvary published a booklet entitled ''The Depression of 2008''. In a 2011 paper,
Mason Gaffney
Merrill Mason Gaffney (October 18, 1923 – July 16, 2020) was an American economist and a major critic of Neoclassical economics from a Georgist point of view. Gaffney first read Henry George's masterwork ''Progress and Poverty'' as a high schoo ...
, Professor of Economics at
UC Riverside, criticized the economic community for excluding and ignoring Foldvary.
Personal life
Foldvary lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
Death
Foldvary died, aged 75, on June 5, 2021.
[Adams, Martin (July 22, 2021]
"In memory of Dr. Fred Foldvary"
Progress.org
Books
* ''The Soul of Liberty'' (1980) The Gutenberg Press.
* ''Public Goods and Private Communities'' (1994)
Edward Elgar Publishing
Edward Elgar Publishing is a global publisher of academic books, journals and online resources in the social sciences and law. The company also publishes a social science and law blog with regular contributions from leading scholars.
About
Edwa ...
* ''Beyond Neoclassical Economics'' (1996) Edward Elgar Publishing
* ''Dictionary of Free Market Economics'' (1998) Edward Elgar Publishing
* ''The Half-Life of Policy Rationales: How Technology Affects Old Policy Issues'' (ed., with Daniel Klein, 2003)
* ''The Depression of 2008'' (2007) The Gutenberg Press.
See also
*
Cellular democracy
As developed by geolibertarian political economist Fred E. Foldvary, cellular democracy is a model of democracy based on multi-level bottom-up structures in either small neighborhood governmental districts or contractual communities.
Councils
In ...
*
Free banking
*
Georgism
*
Grassroots democracy
Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes that shift as much decision-making authority as practical to the organization's lowest geographic or social level of organization.
Grassroots organizations can have a var ...
*
Geolibertarianism
Geolibertarianism is a political and economic ideology that integrates libertarianism with Georgism. It favors a taxation system based (as in Georgism) on income derived from land and natural resources instead of on labor, coupled with a minima ...
*
Green libertarianism
Green libertarianism is a form of green politics. Alternately, it is a form of libertarianism in which the free market provides environmentally beneficial (or benign) outcomes. Marcel Wissenburg (2009) maintains that proponents of the latter c ...
*
Land value tax
*
Libertarian Party of California
The Libertarian Party of California (LPC) is the California affiliate of the national Libertarian Party (LP). The party chairwoman is Mimi Robson, and is based in Sacramento, California, in Sacramento County. As of 2016 Libertarians represent a ...
*
Neoclassical liberalism
Neoclassical liberalism, also referred to as Arizona School liberalismNeoclassical liberal philosophers such as David Schmidtz, Jerry Gaus, John Tomasi, Kevin Vallier, Matt Zwolinski and Jason Brennan all have a connection to the University of A ...
*
Subsidiarity
Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines subsidi ...
Notes
References
Research Fellow, Fred E. Foldvary
External links
Scu.edu: photolink for Fred Foldvary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foldvary, Fred E.
1946 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American economists
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American economics writers
American male non-fiction writers
American people of Hungarian descent
California Libertarians
Georgist economists
Libertarian economists
San Jose State University faculty
Santa Clara University people
Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area