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Focusing on ways that markets work with, rather than against, governments to enhance public welfare.
Current public attitudes toward markets are at a low point in the wake of the Great Recession and the growth in income inequality that began in the 1970s. However, in this book, noted Brookings economist Clifford Winston argues that it is a serious mistake to overlook that markets will be a critical part of the solution to any public objective-whether it be to reduce inequality, stimulate long-term growth, slow climate change, or eliminate COVID 19. In Winston's view, policymakers should be much more aware of the many ways that markets help government to achieve economic and social goals and the potential that markets have to provide greater assistance in achieving those goals.
List of contents
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Contents:
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Perspectives on Government and Markets and the Scope and Content of the Analysis
Part I: Markets Helping Government Address Economic Goals
3. Why Markets Can Help Government Address Economic Goals
4. Protecting Consumers against Anticompetitive Behavior
5. Protecting Consumers When Technology Appears to Prevent Price Competition
6. Enabling Individuals to Make More-Informed Decisions
7. Addressing Negative Externalities Efficiently
8. Improving Public Production
9. Encouraging Innovations by Firms and Individuals
Part II: How Markets Can Help Government Accomplish Social Goals
10. Why Markets Could Help Government Achieve Social Goals
11. Reducing Poverty
12. Fairness in Labor Markets
13. Merit Goods
14. Expanding the Role of Markets to Help Address Social Goals Policies
Part III: Synthesizing the Evidence: Policy Inefficiencies and Efforts to Explain Them
15. Government Policy Inefficiencies and Efforts to Explain Them
16. Markets Helping Government
17. Some Broader Implications of Markets Helping Government
Part IV: Markets Helping Government: A Robustness Test and Proactive Perspective
18. Market and Government Responses to COVID-19: A Robustness Test
19. Conclusion: Advancing the Perspective of Markets Helping Government
Notes
References
Index
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About the author
Clifford Winston, the Searle Freedom Trust Senior Fellow in the Brookings Institution's Economic Studies program, has been with Brookings since 1984. He is an applied microeconomist who specializes in the analysis of industrial organization, regulation, and transportation. His most recent book is
Trouble at the Bar (Brookings).
Summary
Current public attitudes toward markets are at a low point in the wake of the Great Recession and the growth in income inequality that began in the 1970s. However, in this book, economist Clifford Winston argues that it is a serious mistake to overlook that markets will be a critical part of the solution to any public objective.
