Reinventing the Bazaar : A Natural History of Markets

by MCMILLAN,JOHN

• ISBN13: 9780393323719
• ISBN10: 0393323714
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2003-11-17
• Publisher: W W NORTON

Summary

From the wild swings of the stock market to the online auctions of eBay to the unexpected twists of the world's post-Communist economies, markets have suddenly become quite visible. We now have occasion to ask, "What makes these institutions work? How important are they? How can we improve them?"Taking us on a lively tour of a world we once took for granted, John McMillan offers examples ranging from a camel trading fair in India to the $20 million per day Aalsmeer flower market in the Netherlands to the global trade in AIDS drugs. Eschewing ideology, he shows us that markets are neither magical nor immoral. Rather, they are powerful if imperfect tools, the best we've found for improving our living standards. A New York Times Notable Book.

Author Biography

John McMillan is the Jonathan B. Lovelace Professor of Economics at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
1. The Only Natural Economy	3	(12)
2. Triumphs of Intelligence	15	(12)
3. He Who Can't Pay Dies	27	(14)
4. Information Wants to Be Free	41	(12)
5. Honesty Is the Best Policy	53	(12)
6. To the Best Bidder	65	(10)
7. Come Bid!	75	(14)
8. When You Work for Yourself	89	(14)
9. The Embarrassment of a Patent	103	(16)
10. No Man Is an Island	119	(17)
11. A Conspiracy against the Public	136	(12)
12. Grassroots Effort	148	(19)
13. Managers of Other People's Money	167	(15)
14. A New Era of Competition	182	(14)
15. Coming Up for Air	196	(15)
16. Antipoverty Warriors	211	(13)
17. Market Imperatives	224	(7)
Acknowledgments	231	(2)
Endnotes	233	(14)
References	247	(16)
Index	263