Understanding the Private–Public Divide: Markets, Governments, and Time Horizons

ISBN-13: 9781108496209 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 200 str.

Avner Offer (University of Oxford)

Opis

Markets are taken as the norm in economics and in much of political and media discourse. But if markets are superior why does the public sector remain so large? Avner Offer provides a distinctive new account of the effective temporal limits on private, public, and social activity. Understanding the Private–Public Divide accounts for the division of labour between business and the public sector, how it changes over time, where the boundaries ought to run, and the harm that follows if they are violated. He explains how finance forces markets to focus on short-term objectives and why business requires special privileges in return for long-term commitment. He shows how a private sector policy bias leads to inequality, insecurity, and corruption. Integrity used to be the norm and it can be achieved again. Only governments can manage uncertainty in the long-term interests of society, as shown by the challenge of climate change.

Recenzje

'Thought-provoking to the end, Offer has written a highly stimulating, readable book of immense intellectual use to the study of the past and to the present's consideration of its approach to the future.' Martin Chick, EH.net (Economic History Association)

Spis treści

Introduction; 1. Patient capital; 2. Corruption and integrity; 3. Plutocratic blowback; 4. Creating humans; 5. Exit from work; 6. Housing and democracy; 7. Climate change and time horizons; Conclusion.