Radical Markets
Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society
Published on 15. May 2018
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-0-691-17750-2 (ISBN)
Description
Revolutionary ideas on how to use markets to bring about fairness and prosperity for all
Many blame today's economic inequality, stagnation, and political instability on the free market. The solution is to rein in the market, right? Radical Markets turns this thinking-and pretty much all conventional thinking about markets, both for and against-on its head. The book reveals bold new ways to organize markets for the good of everyone. It shows how the emancipatory force of genuinely open, free, and competitive markets can reawaken the dormant nineteenth-century spirit of liberal reform and lead to greater equality, prosperity, and cooperation.
Eric Posner and Glen Weyl demonstrate why private property is inherently monopolistic, and how we would all be better off if private ownership were converted into a public auction for public benefit. They show how the principle of one person, one vote inhibits democracy, suggesting instead an ingenious way for voters to effectively influence the issues that matter most to them. They argue that every citizen of a host country should benefit from immigration-not just migrants and their capitalist employers. They propose leveraging antitrust laws to liberate markets from the grip of institutional investors and creating a data labor movement to force digital monopolies to compensate people for their electronic data.
Only by radically expanding the scope of markets can we reduce inequality, restore robust economic growth, and resolve political conflicts. But to do that, we must replace our most sacred institutions with truly free and open competition-Radical Markets shows how.
Many blame today's economic inequality, stagnation, and political instability on the free market. The solution is to rein in the market, right? Radical Markets turns this thinking-and pretty much all conventional thinking about markets, both for and against-on its head. The book reveals bold new ways to organize markets for the good of everyone. It shows how the emancipatory force of genuinely open, free, and competitive markets can reawaken the dormant nineteenth-century spirit of liberal reform and lead to greater equality, prosperity, and cooperation.
Eric Posner and Glen Weyl demonstrate why private property is inherently monopolistic, and how we would all be better off if private ownership were converted into a public auction for public benefit. They show how the principle of one person, one vote inhibits democracy, suggesting instead an ingenious way for voters to effectively influence the issues that matter most to them. They argue that every citizen of a host country should benefit from immigration-not just migrants and their capitalist employers. They propose leveraging antitrust laws to liberate markets from the grip of institutional investors and creating a data labor movement to force digital monopolies to compensate people for their electronic data.
Only by radically expanding the scope of markets can we reduce inequality, restore robust economic growth, and resolve political conflicts. But to do that, we must replace our most sacred institutions with truly free and open competition-Radical Markets shows how.
Reviews / Votes
"One of The Economist's Best Business and Economics Books of 2018" "E. Glen Weyl & Eric Posner: One of Bloomberg Businessweek's "Bloomberg 50" Icons of 2018" "Both a savage critique of 'techno-feudalism' and an idealistic appeal to share the fruits of our collective intelligence more fairly."---John Thornhill, Financial Times "Radical Markets . . . could be best described as an interesting new way of looking at the subject that is sometimes called "political economy" - tackling the big questions of how markets and politics and society intersect. . . . I highly recommend Radical Markets . . . to anyone interested in these kinds of issues, and look forward to seeing the discussion that the book generates."---Vitalik Buterin "Extremely thought provoking and clearly brilliant . . . Radical Markets certainly made me think about property, information, power. Well worth reading."---Diane Coyle, The Enlightened Economist "Doesn't anybody have anything new to offer? . . . . [Y]es: . . . unleash the awesome power of markets . . . to uplift the poor . . . it just might be what the world needs now. . . . [Posner and Weyl are] smart and iconoclastic, and their book bursts with ideas like kernels of corn on a hot stove."---Peter Coy, Bloomberg Businessweek "What I love is just some new ideas, because the existing ideas to solve the injustices and inequalities aren't working! A must-read."---Carol Massar, Bloomberg Radio "A very thought-provoking book is a bizarre fusion of ideas drawn from the classical liberal . . . . and socialist tradition(s). . . . It contains ideas . . . that really do make you think. It is a really fun book to read and of you are someone who actually likes having your suppositions and beliefs challenged, take a look at it."---Reihan Salam, National Review's The Editors podcast "An arresting if eccentric manifesto for rebooting liberalism. . . . Radical Markets is refreshing and welcome in its willingness to question received wisdom." * The Economist * "I highly recommend this book! Replacing markets by auctions (sort of). Whether you agree or not, it shows how much liberalism is able to renew itself."---Gaspard Koenig, Generation Libre "Read this difficult and provocative book. It made my head hurt, and then spin. In a world where our current economic and political models are worth defending but are straining, this can only be a good thing."---Paschal Donohoe, Irish Times "It will pay the readers . . . great intellectual returns to invest significant time in studying this book very carefully. It is ambitious and bold, and I think it should excite the imagination and motivate careful scholarship and analytical rigor among both critics and those who want to pursue the line of argument laid out."---Peter Boettke, Coordination Problem "This system has enormous potential - simple, fair, progressive taxes and a more dynamic economy. It would be much easier to develop new infrastructure, build new homes, buy your neighbour's garden, and pour concrete all over twee villages to build monorails or airport runways."---Tim Harford, Financial Times "A provocative new book." * The Economist * "This is free market thinking but not as we know it."---Diane Coyle, Prospect "Glen Weyl, coauthor of Radical Markets, is tackling the core issues: What does human dignity mean in a highly automated future? How can we regain agency over the data we produce? If these don't sound like economic questions, then get ready to encounter the future of economics. We can't just complain about how tech is transforming our world; we need to invent the transformation."---Jaron Lanier, Wired "[A] bold book."---Michael Sandel, New Statesman "A law professor and an economist argue that the way out of liberalism's impasse is to expand the role of markets, not to subdue them. . . . Together they point to a possible response to the challenges of populism and protectionism." * The Economist * "Radical Markets is worth reading both for its genuinely innovative suggestions and its well-researched accounts of the development of economic ideas."---David V. Axelsen, Economics and PhilosophyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
20 b/w illus., 3 tables
Dimensions
Height: 223 mm
Width: 146 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
462 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-17750-2 (9780691177502)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Eric A. Posner is the Kirkland and Ellis Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Law School. His many books include The Twilight of Human Rights Law and Climate Change Justice (Princeton). He lives in Chicago. E. Glen Weyl is principal researcher at Microsoft, founder and chairman of RadicalxChange, and visiting research scholar at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He lives in New Jersey.