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Market Failure of Success The New Debate (Book/ Paperback)

Product Overview

Recent years have seen the rise of new theories of market failure based on asymmetric information (wherein one party in a transaction knows more than the other) and network effects (the more popular a product, the more valuable it becomes). According to this new paradigm, we can expect substantial failure in the markets for labor, credit, insurance, software, new technologies and even used cars, to give but a few examples. Market failure at the microeconomic level, the theory suggests, may even create or aggravate disturbances throughout the economy.

But despite the cachet of the new market-failure theories, no systematic critical examination has been available - until now.

Market Failure or Success: The New Debate brings together the key papers on this new paradigm, including classic papers by Joseph Stiglitz, George Akerlof and Paul David - along with powerful theoretical and empirical rebuttals. These rebuttals challenge the assumptions of the new models and question the government policies based on them.

The book also shows how real markets operate, based on careful experimental studies, and suggests new areas for research.

Market Failure or Success is required reading for all who seek to better understand one of the most exciting debates in economics today.

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