Center for Market Education

📘 New CME Educational Publication

The Center for Market Education is pleased to present CME Edu Paper No. 11 – “The Foundations of an Appropriate Price Theory” by Dr Carmelo Ferlito - Free download here:https://marketedu.me/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/202606-EduPaper-No-11-Foundations-of-an-Appropriate-Price-Theory.pdf

The paper revisits the central role of prices in economic analysis, showing that prices are not merely numbers, but institutions of coordination, calculation, interpretation, and entrepreneurial discovery.

By drawing on Menger, Mises, Hayek, Chicago price theory, evolutionary economics, and hermeneutical political economy, the publication argues for restoring price theory to the heart of economics and public policy debate.

📄 Read the full paper and discover why understanding prices is essential to understanding markets, entrepreneurship, innovation, and the limits of policy intervention.

Pope Leo XIV’s , issued on 25 May 2026, is formally an encyclical “on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence”.

Here our CEO, Dr Carmelo Ferlito, reflects on the encyclical at the light of the theoretical perspective presented in his book "Hermeneutical Political Economy: An Introductory Textbook" (Monolateral, 2026).

Magnifica Humanitas: Social Justice, Technocracy and the Human Person in the Age of AI Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas, issued on 25 May 2026, is formally an encyclical “on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence”.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF AN APPROPRIATE PRICE THEORY

Price theory remains one of the most powerful tools for understanding how markets coordinate human action.

Prices are not arbitrary numbers. They transmit information, reveal scarcity, guide entrepreneurial decisions, and make economic calculation possible. When prices are distorted, the consequences are not merely technical: the very process through which society learns, adapts, and allocates resources is weakened.

A sound price theory is therefore essential for understanding markets, policy, and economic coordination.

Read more here:

The Foundations of an Appropriate Price Theory Modern economics often speaks about prices as if they were merely numbers.

We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Professor Edmund Phelps, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Professor Phelps belonged to what may have been the last generation of economists still engaged in what G.L.S. Shackle called “high theory”: the ambitious attempt to rethink the foundations of economic life, not merely to refine technical models. His later writings, in particular, carried a distinctly Schumpeterian flavour, placing creativity, innovation, dynamism, and human flourishing at the centre of economic inquiry.

The Center for Market Education had the great honour of hosting Professor Phelps in 2023, when he presented his latest book, My Journeys in Economic Theory. It was a memorable occasion, and a privilege to engage with one of the great minds of modern economics.

His intellectual legacy will continue to inspire all those who believe that economics, at its best, is not only a technical discipline, but a profound reflection on human creativity, freedom, and progress.

Link to CME Webinar with Professor Phelps:

Edmund Phelps's Journeys in Economic Theory, with Prof Edmund Phelps (6/7/2023) The Center for Market Education and National Sun Yat-Sen University College of Management hosted a presentation of "My Journeys in Economic Theory" by Profes...

Center for Market Education Fellow, Dr Tan Consilz, shared her opinions on Malaysia's ageing society, and how the trend is reshaping the housing market, with The Edge.

Many thanks to New Straits Times and Robin Augustin for the wide coverage on Center for Market Education statement on subsidy rationalization.

CME urges major subsidy overhaul, proposes shift to voucher-based support model | New Straits Times KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should overhaul its rigid, tiered subsidy framework and replace it with a more flexible, market-based voucher system to improve targeting and reduce economic distortions, the Centre for Market Education (CME) said.

Good coverage from today's printed media...

CME Media Statement - English Version: Center for Market Education Calls for Purpose-Vouchers as a More Effective Alternative to Rigid Targeted Subsidies - https://marketedu.me/center-for-market-education-calls-for-purpose-vouchers-as-a-more-effective-alternative-to-rigid-targeted-subsidies/

Versi BM: Center for Market Education Menyeru Pelaksanaan Baucar Bertujuan sebagai Alternatif yang Lebih Berkesan kepada Subsidi Bersasar yang Kaku - https://marketedu.me/center-for-market-education-menyeru-pelaksanaan-baucar-bertujuan-sebagai-alternatif-yang-lebih-berkesan-kepada-subsidi-bersasar-yang-kaku/

In Center for Market Education Policy Paper Nr 7, "Beyond Price Stability: The Role of Monetary Policy for Sustainable Growth and Social Welfare" (https://marketedu.me/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/202506-Policy-Paper-No-7-Beyond-Price-Stability.pdf), Dr. Carmelo Ferlito challenges the conventional wisdom that monetary policy should target short-term inflation metrics alone. He argues that this narrow focus has historically contributed to asset bubbles, misallocation of resources, and long-term instability—even in periods of low inflation.

Here a short video summary of the paper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcmpjGWHBBw

Rethinking Monetary Policy Beyond Price Stability (9/5/2026) Policy Paper Nr 7: "Beyond Price Stability: The Role of Monetary Policy for Sustainable Growth and Social Welfare", https://marketedu.me/wp-content/uploads/2...

Klang MP Charles Santiago proposed to impose a 2% wealth tax on Malaysia’s richest individuals.

Here are some of comments by Dr Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of the Center for Market Education, published by The Sun:

“I am surprised such ideas are still seriously circulating".
“If wealth was accumulated through government contracts, subsidies, monopolies or protected concessions, then the solution is not to introduce another tax.
“The solution is to dismantle the unhealthy apparatus that allowed such privilege to emerge,” he said.

In a nutshell, government action is always the problem and never the solution.