Everything for Sale: The Virtues and Limits of Markets

by Robert Kuttner

Zeroing in on such realms as health care and the workplace, the commercialization of sports and the arts, the chaotic deregulation of airlines, S&Ls, and telecommunications, and the buying and selling of public offices, Kuttner shows how markets can fail precisely those whom they are supposed to serve. Asking the crucial question, "What should not be for sale?", Kuttner shows why a society conceived as a grand auction block would not be a democracy worth having. 416 pp. Author tour. 25,000 print.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Business, Politics, Academic

431 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Luke Meehan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The introductory chapter was inspiring, and I thought I'd genuinely found an evidence-based, academically-integrated encyclopaedia of market failures. But where Kuttner is correct he is trivial, and spends the rest of the book misguidedly tilting at strawmen. A shameful waste driven by a seeming unwillingness to not discard priors.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subtitle is more appropriate, which is “The strengths and limitations of markets” – markets have many inherent limitations, and government rightly steps in when these market failures lead to undesirable results. The main argument is that those who argue for marketizing everything are short-sighted and miss the reality of the world; deregulation of airlines, for example, led to worse deals for the customers and less profits for the businesses. Regulation is a critically important aspect of free market society.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

great analysis of the privatization craze..

[Ted Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent critique of Libertarian economics.

[Jonah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has taught me many important lessons about business and about learning about life.

[Zack Subin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great depiction of the limits of standard microecon.