Comments on: Creative contract enforcement in Italy

By: Kristen

Kristen — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:59:45 +0000

Really very resouceful and informative post. Find your best Desoto Bankruptcy Attorney in Desoto, Texas.

By: Mirco

Mirco — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:39:21 +0000

The problem with Mafia is that it do many things and discussion is tainted by political correctness and ideology.
Twenty years ago was not something unknown that many people asked to mafia bosses to help them settle disputes and other stuff, because the tribunals of the Republic were too slow (about ten years for a ruling).

The difference, now, could be that the Mafia become too much interested in power and not enough in money. So it become less useful and more dangerous to people to associate with it.

By: matteo valenza

matteo valenza — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:47:07 +0000

MIPC. Go to Capaci. You need to refresh your mind. Your words are stunnigly horrible. I hope you are not representative of the average Sicilian entrepreneur. SHAME ON YOU!!!

By: MIPC

MIPC — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:58:50 +0000

I live in sicily and i am developing a business there and i have to deal with them everyday and its not as bad as everyone makes out. They are just powerful businessmen who look after their friends and own interests…..as do you all !!

By: Law Markets: Leave the Gun Take the Cannoli « Let A Thousand Nations Bloom

Law Markets: Leave the Gun Take the Cannoli « Let A Thousand Nations Bloom — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:50:02 +0000

[...] the Gun Take the Cannoli 2009 November 19 tags: Black Markets, Law, Mafia by Mike Gibson Chris Blattman reviews The Sicilian Mafia by Diego Gambetta, an Oxford Sociologist: The book tells a fascinating tale of [...]

By: matteo valenza

matteo valenza — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:39:47 +0000

Chris, if you read Gomorra by Roberto Saviano you’ll realise that the ’service provision’ theory outlined above is a myth. I do agree the Mafia fundamentally stems from a form of Government failure, but its obective function has nothing to do with the creation of value for communities (namely service provision). The mafia is inherently self-interested and ‘imposes’ its services rather than ‘being an option for better service delivery’, as your posts suggests. I think you went astray on this one.

By: Ranil Dissanayake

Ranil Dissanayake — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:48:05 +0000

interesting discussion. I was actually composing a post on the mafia which I’ll leave for a while now!

I think a fruitful line of analysis, which I was taking in my blog post, is how the functioning of the mafia validates Hernando de Soto’s ideas about property rights and development. He actually mentions this, albeit briefly and obliquely, in The Mystery of Capital.

By: Ranil Dissanayake

Ranil Dissanayake — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:45:26 +0000

Actually,

By: Texas in Africa

Texas in Africa — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:43:35 +0000

I read Gambetta in a course on political order & violence in my second year of grad school. We had a fantastic discussion about it in relation to thinking about the origins of the state, taxation, etc. It was also interesting because one of my classmates was from a family that had to flee Sicily because of the Mafia. Interestingly enough, she believed Gambetta’s descriptions of Mafia behavior were completely wrong. I can’t recall exactly why, but I’d guess now that had something to do with the idea that they were actually engaged in providing a service.