Fred Emanuel Foldvary (May 11, 1946 – June 5, 2021) was an American economist. He was a lecturer in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and a research fellow at the

Independent Institute The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux and based in Oakland, California. The institute has more than 140 research fellows and is organized into seven centers addressing a range of pol ...

. He previously taught at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

and other colleges. He was also a commentator and senior editor for the online journal ''The Progress Report'' and an associate editor of the online journal ''

Econ Journal Watch ''Econ Journal Watch'' is a semiannual peer-reviewed electronic journal established in 2004. It is published by the Fraser Institute. According its website, the journal publishes comments on articles appearing in other economics journals, essays, r ...

.'' He served on the board of directors for the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.

Work

In his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

dissertation (

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

, 1992) titled "Public Goods and Private Communities", Foldvary applied the theory of

public goods In economics, a public good (also referred to as a social good or collective good)Oakland, W. H. (1987). Theory of public goods. In Handbook of public economics (Vol. 2, pp. 485–535). Elsevier. is a goods, commodity, product or service that ...

and

industrial organization In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complications to the per ...

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.Paul Krugman and Robin Wells Krugman, Robin Wells (2006 ...

, including case studies of several types of private communities. His research interests included

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

governance Governance is the overall complex system or framework of Process, processes, functions, structures, Social norm, rules, Law, laws and Norms (sociology), norms born out of the Interpersonal relationship, relationships, Social interaction, intera ...

, land economics, and

public finance Public finance refers to the monetary resources available to governments and also to the study of finance within government and role of the government in the economy. Within academic settings, public finance is a widely studied subject in man ...

. His support of

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 minimali ...

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

ideology which embraces the

Georgist Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...

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 ...

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 of ...

and

free markets In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

have gained him a place of high visibility in the geolibertarian movement. In the 2000 U.S. House of Representatives elections, 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 ...

in California's 9th district as a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

. 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 to protect the environment while enhancing the economy; reforming

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

with small-group voting; and solving territorial conflict with

confederations A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

and the payment of rent for occupied land. Three central and recurring themes of Foldvary's writing are the universal ethic, cellular democracy, and public revenue from land rent. Foldvary focused on short economic cycles of four years and major cycles of 18-20 years. In 1998, he predicted the next major economic downturn would be in 2008, as well as a short downturn in 1999 or 2000 due to the

Year 2000 problem The term year 2000 problem, or simply Y2K, refers to potential computer errors related to the Time formatting and storage bugs, formatting and storage of calendar data for dates in and after the year 2000. Many Computer program, programs repr ...

. In 2007, Foldvary published a booklet entitled ''The Depression of 2008''. In a 2011 paper, Mason Gaffney, Professor of Economics at

UC Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in ...

, 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"

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. .

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