Government and the Economy

Introduction The problem: how globalization shifts the boundaries between the public and the private. Section 1 The changing state: the retreat of the state; the privatization of state property; the marketization of public services; remaining question - what is public regulation in a global economy? Section 2 Triumph of market philosophy: the real and the financial economies under globalization; markets tend towards efficiency - why, how and when?; the use of the invisible hand - bubbles, speculation and capitalist excesses; remaining problem - reneging on institutions; the poverty question - will it ever go away?; the environmenal questions; the Achilles heel of the global market economy - combustibles.