Thursday, April 4, 2013

Week 1 - Friday "Chapter 1 of Reinventing the Bazaar"



1. What does the author see as the defining characteristics of a market?

One of author's defining characteristic of a market is autonomy; "Decision-making autonomy is key (McMillan 5)." Participation is voluntary and people have power to turn down offers. "Competition, while not defining feature of a market, is usually present and adds to the autonomy (McMillan 6)." Competition keeps any one person from impacting the outcome of the market. Remember "no one is in charge of a market - or, rather, everyone is in charge."


2. McMillan writes, "Markets provoke clashing opinions. Some people revile them as the source of exploitation and poverty. Others extol them as the font of liberty and prosperity." Have you observed these kinds of opinions? What might cause some people to distrust markets? What might cause other people to distrust non-market action? Do you personally lean one way or the other?

Some people distrust market, because it is driven by an "invisible hand." People have always been skeptical of things they cannot see or touch. Market has no tangible force that drives it, and skeptics  blame the system for poverty and its failures.

Some people on the other hand distrust non-market action such as government intervention. Government is ran by people; people are essentially self-centered and make mistakes thus untrustworthy. It is easy to see why some would hate non-market action.

I personally lean towards both. I trust market with some non-market actions. Neither of them are perfect own their own but together they can make up for their downsides.


3. What market rules would you say are important for modern markets? Why?

"On November 9, 1989, the people of Berlin joyously tore down the wall that for thirty years had divided their city. As the wall fell, so did communism and the planned economy. On April 30, 1995, the U.S. government ceased controlling the internet. As entrepreneurs devised procedures for online buying and selling, electronic commerce burgeoned. These two dates denote the beginnings of what has become, for good or for ill, the age of the market."

I believe that free market (fall of communism and planned economy) as well as access to the internet are important for modern market. Without free market, people would not be able to compete and innovate. With access to internet, one can have an access to almost anything online.

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