Peter T. Leeson (born July 29, 1979) is an Americaneconomist and theDuncan Black Professor of Economics and Law atGeorge Mason University.^[1] In 2012Big Think listed him among "Eight of the World's Top Young Economists".^[2] He is a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Arts.^[3]

Peter Leeson
Born	(1979-07-29)July 29, 1979 (age 45)
Spouse	Ania Leeson
Academic career
Field	Economics
Institution	University of Chicago (2009–2010) George Mason University (2007–present) West Virginia University (2005–2007)
Alma mater	Hillsdale College George Mason University
Influences	Gary Becker,Ludwig von Mises,George Stigler,Gordon Tullock
Contributions	The Invisible Hook
Information atIDEAS / RePEc

Leeson is known for extendingrational choice theory into unusual domains,^[4][5][6] such as to the study of bizarre rituals andsuperstitions, and to the behavior of Caribbeanpirates.^[7][8][9] AsFreakonomics coauthorSteven Levitt put it, "the amazing thing about Pete Leeson is that he takes these crazy topics and through a brilliant mix of meticulous historical research, data gathering, and creative economic thinking he shows that these seemingly nonsensical practices actually make a whole lot of sense... I can't think of another economist whose work has so consistently blown my mind."^[10] According to theAmerican Institute for Economic Research's Art Carden, "to the extent that the economics profession has an heir toGary Becker in the sense of pushing economic analysis as far as we think it will go and then discovering it will go a little farther, it's Leeson."^[11]

In 2022 Leeson received the Adam Smith Award, previously given to Nobel LaureatesDouglass North,James M. Buchanan,Vernon L. Smith, andElinor Ostrom.^[12]

Formerly, he held faculty positions atWest Virginia University and theUniversity of Chicago.

Leeson began writing about economics as a teenager:

In 1997,Mackinac Center for Public Policy PresidentLawrence W. Reed read an articulate letter to the editor...that scolded a previous writer for poor economic analysis of a public policy issue. Reed contacted the writer, assuming that he was a professor of some sort. In fact, the author was a 17-year-old Dow High School student, Peter Leeson.^[13]

As an 18-year-old, Leeson was invited by an economics professor atNorthwood University to lecture in his course.^[13]

Leeson earned a B.A. in economics atHillsdale College in 2001. He received his Ph.D. in economics atGeorge Mason University in 2005 under the direction ofPeter Boettke. In 2003–2004, he was a visiting fellow in political economy and government atHarvard University. In 2005, he was theF.A. Hayek Fellow at theLondon School of Economics.^[14]

Leeson proposed marriage to his now-wife, Ania, in the preface of his bookThe Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates.^[15] Ania also appears as one of the characters in his bookWTF?! An Economic Tour of the Weird.^[16] Leeson has a tattoo of a supply and demand curve on his right biceps^[17] and is an avidcigar smoker.^[18][19][20] He illustrated his bookWTF?!^[19]

Leeson'sInvisible Hook argues that Caribbean pirates developed an early form of constitutionaldemocracy and engaged in behaviors such as flying theJolly Roger because doing so maximized their profit.^[21]

In the wake of theMaersk Alabama hijacking, his work on piracy drew substantial media attention.^{[22][23][24][25]} In an article published byNational Public Radio, he said that "early 18th century pirates, men likeBlackbeard,"Black Bart" Roberts, and"Calico" Jack Rackam, were not only thieves. They were also early experimenters with some of the modern world's most cherished values, such as liberty, democracy, and equality."^[26]

Although Leeson is careful to note that he does not praise the criminal actions of pirates, he argues that their self-organization is a useful illustration of how even criminal conduct is based on rational self-interest. In an interview published byThe New York Times, Leeson summarized his thesis:

The idea of the invisible hook is that pirates, though they're criminals, are still driven by their self-interest. So they were driven to build systems of government and social structures that allowed them to better pursue their criminal ends.... The reason that the criminality is driving these structures is because they can't rely on the state to provide those structures for them. So pirates, more than anyone else, needed to figure out some system of law and order to make it possible for them to remain together long enough to be successful at stealing.^[25]

CGP Grey's two-video animatedYouTube adaptation of Leeson'sInvisible Hook has been viewed more than 10 million times.^[27][28]

Leeson's bookWTF?! argues that practices which seem senseless, such astrial by ordeal,trial by combat, and oraculardivination, are in fact clever solutions devised by people to overcome social problems.^[29] A recurrent theme in his work is that "people—all of them, regardless of time or place, religion or culture, wealth, poverty, or anything else—are rational."^[30] Similarly, he maintains that all institutions, including those "that seem obviously inefficient—and, indeed, sometimes downright absurd—are in fact, on closer inspection, efficient and not so absurd after all."^[31]

Steven Levitt has described Leeson's book as "Freakonomics on steroids"^[32][33] and described Leeson as "one of the most creative young economists around."^[34]Tim Harford called Leeson'sWTF?! "one of the most original books I've ever read."^[35]

Leeson has written extensively on what he describes as "the economics ofanarchy" and has suggested that "self-governance works better than you think."^[36]Avinash Dixit described Leeson's bookAnarchy Unbound: Why Self-Governance Works Better Than You Think as "an eye-opener," andRobert Ellickson described it as "masterly."^[37] According to Leeson:

[T]he case for anarchy derives its strength from empirical evidence, not theory.... Despite... significant arenas of anarchy we do not observe perpetual world war in the absence of global government, shriveling international commerce in the absence of supranational commercial law, or even deteriorating standards of living in Somalia. On the contrary, peace overwhelmingly prevails between the world's countries, international trade is flourishing, and Somali development has improved under statelessness.^[36]

TheAtlas Economic Research Foundation's Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Orders awarded Leeson itsHayek Prize in 2006, noting of his scholarship that:

Leeson has concentrated on the study of the problem of order where no formal law exists, showing how in such diverse situations as trade among strangers, banditry in colonial West Central Africa and modernSomalia, and life in pirate societies over the ages often informal rules emerge that allow order to be preserved without heavy-handed government control.^[38]

Leeson stated in a column regardingRonald Reagan and foreign policy, "Reagan's foreign policy was predicated on the use of military intervention to achieve the political and economic outcomes his administration was after in foreign countries. I am advocating precisely the opposite—that no such intervention would be desirable."^[39]

• Legal Systems Very Different from Ours. (with D. Friedman and D. Skarbek). Independently published, 2019.ISBN 978-1793386724
• WTF?! An Economic Tour of the Weird. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2017.ISBN 978-1503600911
• The Economic Role of the State. (ed. withP. Boettke). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2015.
• Anarchy Unbound: Why Self-Governance Works Better Than You Think. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.ISBN 978-1107025806
• The Secrets of Pirate Management. Princeton: Princeton Shorts, 2012.ISBN 978-1400843169
• The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.ISBN 978-0-691-13747-6
• Media, Institutional Change, and Economic Development. (with C. Coyne). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2009.
• The Legacy of Ludwig von Mises: Theory and History. (ed. with P. Boettke). 2 vols. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 2006.ISBN 978-1-84064-402-9

• Interview at ReasonTV onThe Invisible Hook
• Audio interview with Leeson National Review Online
• Leeson's bio at theMercatus Center
• Roberts, Russ (May 25, 2009)."Leeson on Pirates andThe Invisible Hook".EconTalk.Library of Economics and Liberty.