The Miracle of Markets?

1.5 Credits · Level: Graduate

This course focuses on the potential for and perils of markets as a mechanism to allocate society's resources. Among the myriad critical questions to be addressed are the following: Are markets the "miracle" to push economic well-being forward or are they sowing the seeds of society's demise? Under what conditions do markets work well, and under what conditions might they fail? When they fail, what mechanisms exist either within markets or externally to correct resource distortions of markets? How do external control mechanisms such as governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seek to correct market failures? What role to public interest and private interests play in motivating governmental and non-governmental actors? This course will integrate several pedagogical methods including reading formal and informal literature, structured lectures, cases and caselets, and external speakers to tease out insights into these questions.