Self-Determination

"[The authors of Self-Determination] not only are out to set the record straight, but also present alternatives for Native Americans that can give them a better life than exists today on the reservation... For those who believe that Native Americans really do deserve better than the myths of communalism, this is a book worth reading." - The Freeman "This interesting book provides material for demonstrating the internal contradictions of the 'property rights' approach to analysis of American Indian economics... To the extent limited assumptions capture part of humanity's characteristics, the examples reported in this book explore ingenious implications of their simple model." - Western Historical Quarterly "...well-written and thoroughly researched." - xEconomic Affairs "As Nobel Prize Winner Douglass C. North states in his short introduction to this volume, Native Americans 'deserve a better story' than generally is found in the literature, and in this book they get much more optimistic treatment than is generally the case. You do not have to agree with all of the arguments in this volume to benefit from its challenges to conventional wisdom and to appreciate the novel approaches that are part of the chapters." - Gary Libecap, University of Arizona "Thanks to this series of carefully researched essays, it's possible to get a glimmer of a far more hopeful future for the American Indian than today's sad reservation system, rooted in collectivist economics and stereotypes about Indian culture, can ever hope to offer." - Tom Bray, Detroit News