Pirational foundations of freedom and governance as told by Peter T. Leeson
Peter T. Leeson of George Mason University has a couple of unpublished manuscripts in which he has written about pirate law and economics. One of them is called “An-arggh-chy: The Law and Economics of a Pirate Organization.” In it he argues that pirate navies were very well organized and attracted many of Britain’s sailors because of the more even-handed treatment that they received. Only during times of battle did the ships’ captains have total authority. Here’s part of the abstract:
“Remarkably, pirates adopted both of these institutions [of checks and balances and democratic constitutions] before the United States or England. Pirate governance created sufficient order and cooperation to make pirates one of the most sophisticated and successful criminal organizations in history.”
So what you’re saying then, Mr. Leeson, is that the pirates had more advanced democratic rule than the United States or England at the time?
The other slightly older article is “Pirational Choice: The Economics of Infamous Pirate Practices.” In this one he “pierces the myth and mystique of pirate behavior and in doing so provides an economics of piratical practice.”
My knowledge of these papers came from The Atlantic October 2007 article called “Democrats of the Caribbean,” which has the following great line:
“The author notes that the separation of powers on pirate ships slightly predates England’s 1688 Glorious Revolution, and he suggests that the American system of checks and balances appears to have a little Captain Morgan in it.”
I have to thank Mr. Leeson for teaching me the words piratical and pirational, the latter being a word of his own making. There may be a career for me in Rapidsea economics yet.
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Posted on September 20, 2007
Filed Under Government, Pirates | 1 Comment
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