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Markets are taken as the norm in economics and in much of political and media discourse. But if markets are superior why does the public sector remain so large? Avner Offer provides a distinctive new account of the effective temporal limits on private, public, and social activity. Understanding the Private-Public Divide accounts for the division of labour between business and the public sector, how it changes over time, where the boundaries ought to run, and the harm that follows if they are violated. He explains how finance forces markets to focus on short-term objectives and why business requires special privileges in return for long-term commitment. He shows how a private sector policy bias leads to inequality, insecurity, and corruption. Integrity used to be the norm and it can be achieved again. Only governments can manage uncertainty in the long-term interests of society, as shown by the challenge of climate change.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. Patient capital; 2. Corruption and integrity; 3. Plutocratic blowback; 4. Creating humans; 5. Exit from work; 6. Housing and democracy; 7. Climate change and time horizons; Conclusion.
About the author
Avner Offer is Chichele Professor Emeritus of Economic History at Oxford University, Fellow of All Souls College and the British Academy. His books include The Challenge of Affluence: Self-Control and Well-Being in the United States and Britain Since 1950 (2006) and the co-authored The Nobel Factor: The Prize in Economics, Social Democracy, and the Market Turn (2016).
Summary
A distinctive new account why governments loom so large in market societies. Avner Offer explains how finance limits firms to short-term enterprise. For long term commitment business requires exclusive concessions and privileges. Only governments can manage uncertainty in the long-term interests of society, e.g. the challenge of climate change.
