James A. Dorn

Ending Financial Repression in China

Abstract China has the most restricted capital markets in Asia. Constraints on capital freedom have resulted in politicization of investment decisions, corruption, waste of capital, and loss of personal freedom. Ending financial repression in China by liberalizing macro-economic prices and making the Yuan fully convertible would help China become a world-class financial centre. To do so, however, would require widespread privatization and rule of law-both of which would undermine the power of the Chinese Communist Party. The West should be patient with China and recognize that gradual reform and engagement are preferable to destructive protectionism.

Madison's constitutional political economy: Principles for a liberal order

When persons are modelled as self-interested in politics ... the constitutional challenge becomes one of constructing and designing framework institutions or rules that will, to the maximum extent possible, limit the exercise of such interest in exploitative ways and direct such interest to furtherance of the general interest. It is not surprising, therefore, to discover the roots of a public choice perspective ... in the writings of the American Founders, and most notably in James Madisons contributions toThe Federalist Papers.