Ronald Coase on Externalities, the Firm, and the State of Economics

This is a podcast episode, not a book — EconTalk, hosted by Russ Roberts, published May 21, 2012, with Ronald Coase as guest. Coase discusses the two papers he is known for, “The Nature of the Firm” and “The Problem of Social Cost”; his standing complaint that economics had become a body of theory with too little contact with how firms and markets actually operate; and China’s transformation and its prospects.

Why it’s on the list: Placed with Alchian in Institutions, Property Rights, and the Law, it is the section’s primary source speaking for himself — the shortest route into transaction costs and the firm before reading the papers.

Where I saw it: Brendan McCord’s Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, in the section on Institutions, Property Rights, and the Law. Shared on X on March 9, 2026 and saved to Kyle’s “Books To Read” Apple Note. The full 211-entry transcription, with the four parts and sixteen sub-sections, is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.

Connections

• The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this card came from.
• Ronald Coase — the guest, and the author of the two papers under discussion.
• Institutions — transaction costs as the reason institutional form matters.
• Economics — the state of the discipline, which is the interview’s second subject.