This is a few days late, but I thought warranted a post anyway.

As you will have no doubt  heard, Ronald Coase has passsed away. There are some good appreciations floating around online, for example here and here. Also check out the brief but nice words by Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber.

Coase’s work is really worth reading. I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person, but have learned a lot from him nonetheless. Reading Coase taught me new and important things about the world, and about the basics of economics. His most works, of course, are The Nature of the Firm (if you want to be depressed, just google how old he was when he wrote it) and of course The Problem of Social Cost. If you’re interested in some lighter but still  stimulating fare, you can listen to Russ Roberts interviewing Coase on EconTalk just last year. 

The insights of Coase are among the key reasons why I myself, and I suspect a number of others on this blog, are attracted to libertarian conclusions. Coase saw, perhaps better than  anyone else, both the virtues and limits of free exchange. A real loss.