He spent almost his entire career at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and is credited with turning its economics department into one of the country's best.

[14] He initially enrolled in Fresno State College in 1932 and transferred to Stanford University in 1934, obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1936.

"[14] Anthony J. Culyer quoted Kenneth Arrow as saying that Alchian was the "brightest economics student Stanford ever had.

[33][34] Along with Harold Demsetz, Alchian is considered to be the founder of the "UCLA tradition",[20][35] alternatively known as the Los Angeles School.

"[36] Alchian was also influenced by the Austrian School,[41] especially by the ideas of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.

[52][b][54] Henderson argued that Alchian has been most impactful on the economic analysis of property rights and summarized his work on it as follows: "You tell me the rules and I'll tell you what outcomes to expect.

"[56] While working at RAND in 1954, Alchian conducted the first event study to infer what kind of fuel material was used in the development of hydrogen bombs, the construction of which were secret at the time.

"[20] Henderson praised his clear writing, noting that Alchian was "one of the last economists of his generation to communicate mainly in words and not equations.

"[18] According to Susan L. Woodward he "had no use for formal models that did not teach us to look somewhere new in the known world, nor had he any patience for findings that relied on fancy econometrics.

"[58] In 1964 Alchian and William R. Allen co-authored University Economics, an influential general textbook[18] that has undergone six editions under two titles.

[21][59] Mark Blaug described it as standing out "among all of its rivals by a consistent emphasis on the actual or potential role of markets as a device for organising economic life.

[80] Alchian listed "self-reliance, independence, responsibility, integrity and trust" as the principles and rules of capitalism and argued that these are antithetical to socialism/communism.

"[86] One left-wing commentator described Alchian as an "ultra-liberal" economist who vigorously defended the idea that capitalism is characterised by the absence of any substantial power relations between individuals.

[99] William R. Allen described Alchian as "almost always soft-spoken, unaggressive, and seemingly bemused" and noted that he "eschewed ambitious self-promotion and personal empire-building.

"[50] William F. Sharpe wrote that Alchian was "personally gentle and traditional," but was "clearly an eccentric economic theorist.

"[81][107] He preferred to stay home and play golf than to partake in a conference called by President Gerald Ford to "Whip Inflation Now" as it would be "more productive than anything likely to be said in Washington.

"[100] One of his last public appearances was in May 2006 at an international conference at the UCLA, organized by Richard G. Hovannisian, on the challenges of sustainable development in Armenia, which was dedicated to Alchian.

[24] "[Armen Alchian], more than anyone else (and I would include Ronald Coase), made property rights, contracts and business practices in general into the field of study that they have now become."

"[100] Walter E. Williams and Donald J. Boudreaux describe him as one of the top economists of the twentieth century and probably the greatest microeconomic theorist.

[e] Alchian never received a Nobel Prize, but numerous economists, such as Hayek,[18] Harry Markowitz,[f] Michael Intriligator,[g] William R. Allen,[100] David R. Henderson,[119] Donald J. Boudreaux,[120] believe he deserved one.

"[18][i] Allen nominated Alchian for the Nobel Prize in 1986 and characterized him as "a giant who, because of his lack of pretension, is easily overlooked by laymen and even by some supposed professionals—who has greatly honored his profession and uniquely contributed to its usefulness.

"[100] Axel Leijonhufvud, who was a student and colleague of Alchian for thirty years,[122] suggested in 1996 that "his lack of self-promotion and his abstentiousness from it I think is what more than anything else has kept him from the Nobel prize so far.

[124] William F. Sharpe, who took a graduate course taught by Alchian in 1956, named him one of his three mentors, whose approach to research he had attempted to emulate.

[125][24] Sharpe called him a "brilliant mind grappling (usually very successfully) with the most difficult concepts in economics in thoroughly creative and innovative ways.

"[115] William R. Allen named Alchian one of the two individuals who had had the greatest influence on his life, calling him "an older brother.

[128] Other noted economists who were students of or were influenced by Alchian include Harold Demsetz,[129] Steve Hanke,[130] Henry Manne,[131] Yoram Barzel,[132] David Prychitko,[133] Anthony J. Culyer,[j] Karl Brunner,[k] Arthur De Vany,[134] Jerry Jordan,[135] Douglas W. Allen,[136] Axel Leijonhufvud,[l] Robert H.