Below the Radar: Underground Markets for the Poor

For billions around the world, shadowy underground markets provide food, services, and income that makes daily life possible. Helping countries grow out of poverty requires changing the rules of the game to shift these markets above ground.

Reinventing the Bazaar: The Natural History of Markets

John McMillan’s Reinventing the Bazaar is an extremely accessible description of markets large and small, as well as an explanation of their underlying mechanisms. An “absolutely free market,” he says, is a “free-for-all brawl,” while a “real market” is an “ordered brawl.” Sprinkling his analysis with hundreds of anecdotes and examples–prison camps, eBay, the American experiment with alcohol prohibition, the Tokyo fish market, and traditional … [ Read more ]