Jacob Vigdor is Professor of Public Policy and Governance at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
This post originally appeared on 9/7/2009.
There is virtually no cost to disseminating information via the internet. Since the cost is close to free, it stands to reason that the average piece of information on the internet is close to valueless. That's just basic economics: in equilibrium, marginal cost equals marginal benefit. This in and of itself should give pause to any serious individual who wishes to get into the blogging game. With hundreds of millions of people already in the market, how can there be any valuable niche left to fill?
In spite of this compelling logic, I initiated this blog on Labor Day 2009 with the hopes of establishing a community. A rough draft of the community's manifesto would look something like this:
- Competitive markets are the most important institution promoting the advancement of the human condition.
- In public discourse, the term "free markets" is used much more frequently than "competitive markets." (there are twice as many google hits for the former than the latter).
- "Free markets" and "competitive markets" may seem synonymous to some people, but they really aren't.
- While government intervention is sometimes a threat to the competitive marketplace, even greater threats lurk within the marketplace itself. To call government "the problem" or "the solution" is to horrifically oversimplify reality.
The third bullet point is the biggie. People trot out the term "free markets" thinking that it is a term familiar to any half-wit who has sat through econ 101. That's not really true. We economists try to teach people about the implications of perfectly competitive markets, not free markets. (Hence the title of the blog)
The trouble with this confusion is that proponents of "free markets" end up espousing some viewpoints that are very easy to caricature. These proponents then risk being drowned out of important public debates. What the world (or more specifically the US) needs are proponents of competitive markets, who can articulate the potential for competition to improve the human condition. And that's why I'm here.
I've talked to a couple of publishers about writing a book along these lines. The trouble is, books are a really iffy way to build communities these days. Sure, there are some success stories out there. But I have a lot of smart colleagues who have written insightful books that nobody reads. Maybe nobody will read this either, but at least I spare myself the pain of having to deal with reviewers, editors, and so forth.
So, if all this sounds intriguing to you, please stick around. There is more groundwork to lay out in the initial posts, but before long this blog should converge to a lively discussion of current events and debates from a "competitive market" perspective.
I am honored to be the first person to comment on this blog. I think this is a great discussion. Consider me a member of this community.
Posted by: Joseph Ingemi | 09/09/2009 at 12:21 PM