Problems Supposedly Requiring Government Action
My colleague Deirdre McCloskey, back in 2018, listed over 100 economic and social problems that, through the ages, have been deemed as market imperfections, bad consequences of markets and challenges of limited government, or else failures of standard economics, that supposedly require corrective government action or at least different policies.
I’ve trimmed and then added a bunch to her list below. Many of the new additions have surfaced or grown in prominence since her paper was published.
What are we missing?
I’d like to build out as complete a list as possible of these accusations. Please provide a reference for anything obscure! (Note: we are not saying all of these are always wrong, just looking to account for them…And undoubtedly there’s probably some overlap or double-counting for some of the below.)
overpopulation
land rentiers
excessive capital accumulation for the rich
the stationary state
greed
alienation
harmful consumption choices by the poor
poverty
alcoholism
insufficient protection of infant industries
eroding national economic distinctiveness
workers’ lacking bargaining power
racial mixing
women working
immigration of undesirables
wage race to the bottom
monopolies and trusts
capitalism leading to imperialism and exploitation
food and drug poisoning
ostentatious consumption
unemployment
insufficient coordination (rationalization movement)
rampant self-interest
business cycles
underinvestment in increasing-returns industries
production externalities
overinvestment abroad
under-consumption
monopolistic competition
principle-agent problems
market inefficiency requiring planning
markets being unnatural
secular stagnation
investment spillovers
unbalanced growth
capital insufficiency (particularly in developing countries)
sticky prices
prices set by corporate strategy, not profit max MR=MC
predatory pricing
insufficient competitors (Big is Bad) or harm from market power in vertical relationships
entrepreneurialism alien to some cultures
inequality from dual labor markets
cost-push inflation
capital-market imperfections
oligopoly
irrationality among peasants
cultural irrationality
human desires go beyond financial incentives
poverty traps and a cycle of poverty
the prisoner’s dilemma
public goods
insufficient property rights
incomplete contracts
overfishing
tragedy of the commons
resource depletion from overpopulation
transaction costs
public choice
regulatory capture
free riding
institutional sclerosis after long periods of peace
missing markets
informational asymmetries
unions as good monopolies needing state protection
third-world exploitation through trade
corrosive effects of advertising
public underinvestment
recessions without demand-management
false trades
imperfections = world of second best
middle-income traps
path dependency
chaos, unpredictability, and sudden shifts
undervaluing cooperatives and codetermination
need for international “competitiveness”
vulgar consumerism
consumption externalities and merit goods
overworking
menu costs
knowledge as a public good
behavioral irrationality
irrational entrepreneurs
hyperbolic discounting
too big to fail
environmental degradation and climate change
private discrimination and social discrimination
markets undervalue care workers
GDP a poor indicator (happiness econ)
unjust prices
profits a poor reflection of social good
excessive CEO pay
poverty pay deters automation
undervaluing the entrepreneurial state
enduring global poverty
neo-stagnationism/plucked low hanging fruit
income and wealth inequality
underemployment and hysteresis
savings glut
obesity and health epidemic
drug addiction
monopsony power
lack of “resilience” and “self-sufficiency” to supply-shocks
greedflation
price volatility
usury
price complexity (junk fees) & gouging
the pink tax/gendered pricing
algorithmic price discrimination
short-termism and market myopia
tail-risks
speculative bubbles
crypto energy needs
“financialization”
trade deficits
loss of manufacturing harming innovation
racial wealth gaps
job insecurity and precarious work
work intensification and workplace surveillance
digital surveillance of consumers
over commercialization of human relationships
motherhood penalty
McDonaldization of culture/cultural imperialism
overpackaging and waste
unequal healthcare access, food desserts, postcode/zipcode “lotteries”
commodification of nature
two working parent trap
monetization of attention
atomization/”the phones”/social media harms
network effects & winner-takes-all markets
unequal pay for “work of equal value” and other disparities
weaponized supply chain interdependence/ free trade hurts national security
resource wars & conflict commodities
bullshit jobs
aesthetic decline
loss of “real” journalism
ideas harder to find
mass immigration harms
gentrification
biodiversity loss
oligarchic capture of democracy
fertility decline/underpopulation
capitalism erodes virtue
feminization/HR-ification of workplaces
need for energy independence
corporate concentration
social immobility
share buybacks
tax avoidance/offshore tax havens
gambling
stakeholderism/DEI/ESG
mental health crisis and loneliness
deepfakes, misinformation and disinformation
censorship via content moderation
AI existential risk.....
(As profit-driven AI corporations race to make better models without adequate alignment protocols)
"Racial mixing" and "women working" - why are these on a list of problems?