Markets or Governments: Choosing between Imperfect Alternatives

Economic studies historically have either extolled the virtues of perfect markets or decried the market's shortcomings, proposing that governments correct market failure. This book proposes as a counterweight to these views a theory of nonmarket failure, and examines in great detail the shortcomings of government efforts to replace or to regulate markets. It is an unusually thorough analysis that can be used to make more systematic comparisons between markets and governments and to arrive at more intelligent choices between them.After reviewing the existing theory of market shortcomings, Wolf develops a parallel framework for analyzing the shortcomings of government, elaborating the inherent characteristics of government operations and the problems they present. He then considers how these predictable types of nonmarket failure can be taken into account in improving the formulation of public policy. And he compares market and nonmarket alternatives, both in their theoretical and empirical aspects.Wolf concludes that, while both markets and governments have inherent shortcomings, and the choice between them is never a pure one (real-world situations always involve some combination of the two alternatives), markets do a better job than governments. They are more efficient according to both static and dynamic criteria. With respect to equity and other non-efficiency considerations, however, both markets and governments have strengths and weaknesses. Finally, WolfWolf, Charles, Jr. is the author of 'Markets or Governments: Choosing between Imperfect Alternatives', published 1988 under ISBN 9780262231343 and ISBN 0262231344.