Book Review of “Markets, State, and People: Economics for Public Policy”, by Diane Coyle
Autores: Domínguez Martínez, José Manuel (Universidad de Málaga. Departamento de Economía Aplicada (Hacienda Pública, Economía Política y Política Económica). Calle Ejido, 6. 29071 Málaga, España) | Molina Garrido, Carmen (Universidad de Málaga. Departamento de Economía Aplicada (Hacienda Pública, Política Económica y Economía Política), Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales.)
This paper reviews Diane Coyle's "Markets, State, and People: Economics for Public Policy". Although it is a text designed for non-specialists, it is a highly valuable and interesting work for use in an undergraduate course on Public Sector Economics. The book offers a broad, systematic, rigorous and illustrative overview of the main issues related to the role of the public sector in the economy. The exposition of the theoretical foundations is combined with the consideration of situations and cases taken from reality. Unlike traditional orthodox approaches, the market and authority do not appear as opposing instances, necessarily excluding each other, but can complement each other in an attempt to improve social welfare. The existence of failures is not exclusive to the private sector, within an approach that starts from a view that does not a priori grant primacy to the market or to the public sector.