John McMillan
Reinventing the Bazaar
A Natural History of Markets
Clear, insightful, and nondogmatic, this book gives us a new appreciation for one of our most ubiquitous institutions.
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.
"You may have heard that economics is the dismal science. Not in McMillan's hands. Here economics is fun, fascinating, ... fruitful."—Peter L. Bernstein, author of Against the Gods
"There could be no better guide to the modern view of markets than McMillan's new book."—Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2001 Nobel Prize winner in Economics
"Lively [and] instructive... A colorful and authoritative look at how markets work and don't work in today's economy."—Hal R. Varian, author of Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy
"Required reading for anyone who wants to understand the "magic" of markets... Lucidly explained, brilliantly analyzed, and delightfully explored."—Reed E. Hundt, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
"McMillan's rich knowledge of ... current economic theory and ... economies in transition is well embodied in this ... sophisticated survey."—Kenneth J. Arrow, 1972 Nobel Prize winner in Economics
"McMillan's prose resembles single malt, going down easy as it stimulates."—Kirkus Reviews
"The perfect book for the Age of Enron."—New York Times Book Review
"An illuminating refresher course in how economies really work."—Harvard Business Review
"An insightful, common-sense, jargon-free tour of all sorts of markets."—Washington Post
John McMillan is the Jonathan B. Lovelace Professor of Economics at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
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