Comments on: Markets and Trust

By: Steve Munday

Steve Munday — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:40:28 +0000

I am researching a book on Jewish ranchers and cowboys. For now, my focus is Texas but wish to expand later.

Any names, contacts or ideas would be most appreciated.

Steve Munday

By: Nicholas Weininger

Nicholas Weininger — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 +0000

According to David Friedman in _Law’s Order_, norms of trust are especially strongly reinforced in subcultures that rely mostly on informal contract enforcement methods; IIRC he mentions Orthodox Jewish diamond dealers and ranchers in Shasta County, CA as examples.

Probably there’s a paper waiting for a medievalist to write it about the effect on societal trust norms of the presence of traders operating under the Law Merchant (a system of contract rules developed by merchants themselves and at first enforced mostly by informal sanction).

By: Micha Ghertner

Micha Ghertner — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 +0000

Orthodox Jewish ranchers?

Oy, dude.

By: chuck

chuck — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 +0000

This is the book to read about norms and dispute resolution among Shasta County ranchers.

I know of no books about Orthodox Jewish cowboys, although it has been my experience that Jews and cattle don’t get along. No, wait, that was Jews and pigs. Nevermind.

I really should go to synogogue more often.

For a good book about a Jewish cowboy who solves murder mysteries, let me recommend this one.

By: Nicholas Weininger

Nicholas Weininger — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 +0000

That’ll teach me to reread my comments more carefully.