Friday, July 3, 2015

Mark Thoma — The Problem with Completely Free Markets


Some weekend reading.

Econ 101 — because some people need constant reminding of the difference between so-called free markets and genuinely competitive markets. 

Mark Thoma reminds that government institutions and supervision are required for competitive markets. Markets "free" of government "intrusion" are not likely to be competitive, and imperfect competition constitutes market failure, e.g., rent extraction based artificial market power.

The Fiscal Times | Opinion
The Problem with Completely Free Markets
Mark Thoma | Professor of Economics, University of Oregon

2 comments:

Random said...

WTF? "The Fiscal Times." Who calls their newspaper that?

Tom Hickey said...

ABOUT US

Statement of Purpose

The Fiscal Times (TFT) is a digital news, opinion and media service offering comprehensive quality reporting on vital fiscal policy, economic and consumer issues. TFT has become one of the most trusted sources of economic analysis and its effects on the country at large, including business and consumers.

The Fiscal Times is an editorially independent enterprise, written, edited and produced by experienced professional journalists, that provides an array of original reporting and analysis. Through three core content channels—policy and politics, business and economy, and life and money—the publication focuses on how fiscal policy affects business and consumers and how business and consumer behavior influences government fiscal policy. The site's news coverage also tracks the Presidency, Congress and the Federal Reserve, and U.S. business as part of a global economic system. TFT’s content partners include The Washington Post, Yahoo Finance and Yahoo News, CNBC, MSN Money, Bloomberg, 24/7 Wall Street, Kaiser Health News, and others.

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TFT has been organized as a limited liability company (LLC) and is owned and funded by Peter G. Peterson..


Emphasis added.