Markets in the Casino Economy

In the eighties, the idea of the market triumphed. From Reagan’s America and Thatcher’s Britain to the crumbling economies of the Soviet bloc, the “market” became a mantra for all occasions. Chanted long enough it would bring freedom, choice, prosperity, and a ready solution to all pressing issues.

“Real existing markets” resemble the markets of theory about as much as what some called “real existing socialism” in Eastern Europe resembled...