Radical Markets: A Selected Bibliography

May 14th, 2018

Many blame today's economic inequality, stagnation, and political instability on the free market. The solution is to rein in the market, right?  Radical Markets turns this thinking--and pretty much all conventional thinking about markets, both for and against—on its head. The book reveals bold new ways to organize markets for the good of everyone. It shows how the emancipatory force of genuinely open, free, and competitive markets can reawaken the dormant nineteenth-century spirit of liberal reform and lead to greater equality, prosperity, and cooperation.

Eric Posner and Glen Weyl demonstrate why private property is inherently monopolistic, and how we would all be better off if private ownership were converted into a public auction for public benefit. They show how the principle of one person, one vote inhibits democracy, suggesting instead an ingenious way for voters to effectively influence the issues that matter most to them. They argue that every citizen of a host country should benefit from immigration—not just migrants and their capitalist employers. They propose leveraging antitrust laws to liberate markets from the grip of institutional investors and creating a data labor movement to force digital monopolies to compensate people for their electronic data.

Only by radically expanding the scope of markets can we reduce inequality, restore robust economic growth, and resolve political conflicts. But to do that, we must replace our most sacred institutions with truly free and open competition—Radical Markets shows how.

Eric Posner will discusRadical Markets on  Monday, 5/21, 6pm at the Co-op.


The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith - Smith was a radical, not a conservative, contrary to popular belief

Utilitarianism, by John Stuart Mill - Mill is the most famous of the Philosophical Radicals, whose ideas inspired our book

Progress and Poverty, by Henry George - Possibly the best-selling economics book of all time, and another source of inspiration

Capitalism and Freedom, by Milton Friedman - An important book but a wrong turn

Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty - On the importance of inequality

Who Owns the Future?, by Jaron Lanier - The internet and the development of new market


About Eric Posner: Eric Posner is Kirkland and Ellis Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Arthur and Esther Kane Research Chair. His current research interests are international law and constitutional law. His books include The Twilight of International Human Rights (Oxford, forthcoming 2014); Economic Foundations of International Law (with Alan Sykes) (Harvard, 2013); Contract Law and Theory (Aspen, 2011); The Executive Unbound: After the Madisonian Republic (with Adrian Vermeule) (Oxford, 2011); Climate Change Justice (with David Weisbach) (Princeton, 2010); The Perils of Global Legalism (Chicago, 2009); Terror in the Balance: Security, Liberty and the Courts (with Adrian Vermeule) (Oxford, 2007); New Foundations of Cost-Benefit Analysis (with Matthew Adler) (Harvard, 2006); The Limits of International Law (with Jack Goldsmith) (Oxford, 2005); Law and Social Norms (Harvard, 2000); Chicago Lectures in Law and Economics (editor) (Foundation, 2000); Cost-Benefit Analysis: Legal, Economic, and Philosophical Perspectives (editor, with Matthew Adler) (University of Chicago, 2001). He writes a column for Slate on legal issues. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Law Institute.

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