The Market System: What it Is, how it Works, and what to Make of it

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Yale University Press, Jan 1, 2002 - Business & Economics - 296 pages
In this clear and accessible book, an eminent political scientist offers a jargon-free introduction to the market system for all readers, with or without a background in economics.

A balanced and novel treatment of a very important set of questions. This is a book of grand scope by an outstanding scholar.--Samuel Bowles, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Anyone who wants to know more about the market system's plusses and minuses, how government can help or hinder its workings, and the direction in which it is likely to move should read this clear, fair, and fascinating book.--Robert Heilbroner, professor emeritus, New School University

The Market System resplendently assesses the character, rules, advantages, and shortcomings of the central institution coordinating modern economic and social life. Lindblom marshals his incisive intellect, uncommon range, and pellucid prose to clarify, probe, and exhort. The result is an unsurpassed guide.--Ira I. Katznelson, Columbia University

 

Selected pages

Contents

Market System Ascendant
1
How It Works
17
Societys Coordination
19
MarketSystem Coordination
35
Bones Beneath Flesh
52
Enterprise and Corporation
61
Maximum Reach
84
Chosen Domain
97
Too Little Too Late
166
Freedom?
178
Personality and Culture
193
Persuading the Masses
212
Necessary to Democracy?
226
Enterprise Obstructions to Democracy
236
Thinking About Choices
251
Alternative Market Systems
253

What To Make of It
109
Quid Pro Quo
111
What Efficiency Requires
123
MarketSystem Efficiency
140
Inefficiencies
147
An Alternative to the Market System?
265
Notes
279
Index
291
Copyright

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About the author (2002)

Charles E. Lindblom is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Economics and Political Science at Yale University. His prize-winning books include Inquiry and Change: The Troubled Attempt to Understand and Shape Society, published by Yale University Press, and Politics and Markets: The World's Political-Economic Systems.

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