Fred Foldvary

In his PhD dissertation (George Mason University, 1992) titled "Public Goods and Private Communities", Foldvary applied the theory of public goods and industrial organization to refute the concept of market failure, including case studies of several types of private communities. His research interests included ethics, governance, land economics, and public finance.

His support of geolibertarianism (a libertarian ideology which embraces the Georgist philosophy of property) and his advocacy of civil liberties and free markets have gained him a place of high visibility in the geolibertarian movement.Foldvary, Fred E. (2002) [http://www.progress.org/archive/fold251.htm "Geoism and Libertarianism"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104040047/http://www.progress.org/archive/fold251.htm|date=2012-11-04}}, [http://www.progressreport.org www.ProgressReport.org]. In the 2000 U.S. House of Representatives elections, he ran for Congress in California's 9th district as a Libertarian.{{cite web|url=http://hometown.aol.com/foldvary2000/ |title=Fred Foldvary 2000 – Libertarian for Congress |publisher=Hometown.aol.com |accessdate=2014-10-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918004406/http://hometown.aol.com/foldvary2000/ |archivedate=September 18, 2008 }} He received 3.3% of the total vote to finish third among the four candidates on the ballot.

Foldvary wrote on topics including ending slavery in chocolate plantations; a green tax shift to protect the environment while enhancing the economy; reforming democracy with small-group voting; and solving territorial conflict with confederations and the payment of rent for occupied land. Three central and recurring themes of Foldvary's writing are the universal ethic, cellular democracy, and public 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,Foldvary, Fred E. (1998) {{cite web |title=Will There Be a Recession? |url=http://www.progress.org/archive/fold19.htm |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20011123103024/http://www.progress.org/archive/fold19.htm |archivedate=November 23, 2001 |accessdate=2017-10-07}} [http://www.progressreport.org www.ProgressReport.org]. as well as a short downturn in 1999 or 2000 due to the Year 2000 problem. In 2007, Foldvary published a booklet entitled The Depression of 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.foldvary.net/Gutenberg/index.html |title=Fred Foldvary |publisher=Foldvary.net |date= |accessdate=2013-03-26 |archive-date=2008-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019044505/http://www.foldvary.net/Gutenberg/index.html |url-status=dead }} In a 2011 paper, Mason Gaffney, Professor of Economics at UC Riverside, criticized the economic community for excluding and ignoring Foldvary.Gaffney, Mason (2011), "An Award for Calling the Crash". Econ Journal Watch, Volume 8, Number 2, pp. 185–92

Foldvary lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

Foldvary died, aged 75, on June 5, 2021.Adams, Martin (July 22, 2021) [https://www.progress.org/articles/in-memory-of-dr-fred-foldvary "In memory of Dr. Fred Foldvary"].

• The Soul of Liberty (1980) The Gutenberg Press. {{ISBN|0-9603872-1-8}}.
• Public Goods and Private Communities (1994) Edward Elgar Publishing {{ISBN|1-85278-951-4}}.
• Beyond Neoclassical Economics (1996) Edward Elgar Publishing {{ISBN|1-85898-395-9}}.
• Dictionary of Free Market Economics (1998) Edward Elgar Publishing {{ISBN|1-85898-432-7}}.
• The Half-Life of Policy Rationales: How Technology Affects Old Policy Issues (ed., with Daniel Klein, 2003) {{ISBN|0-8147-4777-9}}.
• The Depression of 2008 (2007) The Gutenberg Press. {{ISBN|0-9603872-0-X}}.

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• Cellular democracy
• Free banking
• Georgism
• Grassroots democracy
• Geolibertarianism
• Green libertarianism
• Land value tax
• Libertarian Party of California
• Neoclassical liberalism
• Subsidiarity

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{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=852 Research Fellow, Fred E. Foldvary]
• [http://www.foldvary.net/pers/vitabk.html Curriculum Vitae, Fred E. Foldvary]
• [http://www.foldvary.net/pers/bio.html Fred E. Foldvary, Biographical Sketch]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051017044317/http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm Chocolate Worker Slavery]

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• [http://www.foldvary.net/publications.html Foldvary.net: Fred Foldvary's publications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019044513/http://www.foldvary.net/publications.html |date=2008-10-19 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070106083926/http://www.progress.org/archive/foldvary.htm The Progress Report archives: Editorials by Fred Foldvary]
• [http://www.scu.edu/business/economics/faculty/images/foldvery-100-sq.jpg Scu.edu: photolink for Fred Foldvary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326122754/http://www.scu.edu/business/economics/faculty/images/foldvery-100-sq.jpg |date=2009-03-26 }}

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Category:1946 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century American economists

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:American economics writers

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:American people of Hungarian descent

Category:California Libertarians

Category:Georgist economists

Category:Libertarian economists

Category:San Jose State University faculty

Category:Santa Clara University people

Category:Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area