Professor of Law at Santa Clare University, California, David Friedman is a leading libertarian advocate of anarcho-capitalism. His first political book, The Machinery of Freedom (1973), is a libertarian classic in which he develops an alternative system of competitive government, in place of existing monopoly governments. An expert in the economic analysis of law, his subsequent publications, including Law's Order: What Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters (2000) have focused on the legal structures most conducive to prosperity. Responding to common criticisms about 'market failure,' Professor Friedman explains how government action greatly suffers from similar problems, and that, between the alternatives of government and market solutions to economic allocation, the latter is much more dynamic and benign.