Fred Foldvary | |
|---|---|
 Foldvary giving a lecture in 2010 | |
| Born | (1946-05-11)May 11, 1946 |
| Died | June 5, 2021(2021-06-05) (aged 75) |
| Alma mater | George Mason University (PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | Writer and academic |
| Employer | Santa Clara University |
Fred Emanuel Foldvary (May 11, 1946 – June 5, 2021) was an American economist. He was a lecturer ineconomics atSan Jose State University,California, and a research fellow at theIndependent Institute. He previously taught atSanta Clara University and other colleges. He was also a commentator and senior editor for the online journalThe Progress Report and an associate editor of the online journalEcon Journal Watch. He served on the board of directors for theRobert Schalkenbach Foundation.[1]
In hisPhD dissertation (George Mason University, 1992) titled "Public Goods and Private Communities", Foldvary applied the theory ofpublic goods andindustrial organization to refute the concept ofmarket failure, including case studies of several types of private communities. His research interests includedethics,governance,land economics, andpublic finance.
His support ofgeolibertarianism (alibertarian ideology which embraces theGeorgist philosophy of property) and hisadvocacy ofcivil liberties andfree markets have gained him a place of high visibility in the geolibertarian movement.[2] In the2000 U.S. House of Representatives elections, he ran forCongress in California's 9th district as aLibertarian.[3] He received 3.3% of the total vote to finish third among the four candidates on the ballot.
Foldvary wrote on topics including endingslavery in chocolate plantations; agreen tax shift to protect the environment while enhancing the economy; reformingdemocracy with small-group voting; and solvingterritorial conflict withconfederations and thepayment of rent for occupied land. Three central and recurring themes of Foldvary's writing are theuniversal ethic,cellular democracy, andpublic 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,[4] as well as a short downturn in 1999 or 2000 due to theYear 2000 problem. In 2007, Foldvary published a booklet entitledThe Depression of 2008.[5] In a 2011 paper,Mason Gaffney, Professor of Economics atUC Riverside, criticized the economic community for excluding and ignoring Foldvary.[6]
Foldvary lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
Foldvary died, aged 75, on June 5, 2021.[7]
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)www.ProgressReport.org.
