Merits and Limits of Markets (Publications of the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation) - Hardcover

The 1997 Symposium of the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation, which gave rise to this book, took place in the United States, on the East Coast between New Y C)rk and New Haven, more precisely in Stamford (Conn.). The original choice had been a place close to Yale University, where Egon Sohmen taught economics from 1958 to 1960, subsequent to his period at MIT. But the hotel in New Haven was closed down by a new owner-to pass through a process of creative destruction. Change of ownership-on a large scale and as a transition from public to private hands-had been the topic of the preceding Egon­ Sohmen-Symposium (in Budapest in 1996) published under the head­ ing: Privatization at the End of the Century (Springer-Verlag, 1997). Yet mere change of ownership, some of us at the Foundation felt in subsequent months, was too narrow a focus to properly deal with the movement under consideration: a transition of ownership together with a general move towards a competitive market system charac­ terized by global openness, uncertainty, decentralized risk-bearing, and the increasing importance of information and innovation.

The state is in retreat; markets and private ownership gain ground. But where is the borderline? The authors in this volume, mainly economists but not only, explore it. Part I deals with questions of social philosophy from various standpoints - libertarian, communitarist, economic-sociological and institutional. Part II deals with the frontiers of markets in such areas as legal services, health services, education and the arts. Part III tackles normative issues of global trade such as competition policy, trade in "bads" and social standards. The volume contains contributions by David M. Anderson, Bruce L. Benson, Peter J. Boettke, Anne O. Krueger and Chonira E. Aturupane, Deepak Lal, Gary B. Madison, Dennis C. Mueller, Mark V. Pauly, Alan Peacock, Stefan Voigt and Daniel Kiwit, Edwin G.West.