The surprising design of market economies / by Alex Marshall.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [247]-272) and index.

1. On the books: the markets we make by law -- Coming into being: in praise of markets -- Me and mine: property, the first market -- Lex non scripta: the laws we don't make, or, the common law -- I am my brother's keeper: cooperatives -- Trust: how we cooperate to compete -- Staking claims on the mind: intellectual property -- Little commonwealths: corporations and the state that creates them -- The future of corporations -- 2. Infrastructure: the markets we make by hand -- From highways to health care: progress through infrastructure -- Making places -- The great nineteenth-century train robbery -- A socialist paradise: the American road system -- Waiting for a train station -- What we did before: path dependence and markets -- Police and prisons: freedom, security, and democracy -- Why don't you make me? Government and force -- 3. Seeding the fields: the markets we make in our minds -- Common tongue, common culture, common markets -- 4. The markets we build abroad -- By your bootstraps: developing countries and markets -- Last night upon the stairs: international law -- 5. Looking forward: making better markets -- Conclusion: Making better markets -- Afterword: My own story: a circuitous journey.