Democracy, Economics, and the Public Good Informational Failures and
Examining essential aspects of American life, John Budd investigates how informational sources (print and broadcast media and other resources) fall short when it comes to informing citizens, failing our democracy and damaging the public good.
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Democracy, Economics, and the Public Good Informational Failures and Potential John M. Budd
democracy, economics, and the public good Copyright © John M. Budd, 2015. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-44815-6 All rights reserved. First published in 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-49634-1 ISBN 978-1-137-44628-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137446282 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Scribe Inc. First edition: February 2015 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments
vii
Introduction
1
1
Democracy: Ideals and Practicalities
9
2
Economics and Finance: Where Has Theory Come From and What Do We Face Today?
45
3
The Public Good and the Public Sphere
85
4
Informational Failures
123
5
Informational Potential
157
References
185
Index
203
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Acknowledgments
I would like to express my thanks to Graham Higgs and Twyla Gibson for the many conversations on topics related to this book. Their wisdom has been invaluable to the composition of the work. Any errors are, of course, mine.
Introduction
T
here wouldn’t be a book here if I didn’t believe (and didn’t intend to demonstrate) that there are many reasons not only why people should be fully informed that these phenomena occur but also how and why they are important. The belief that business should be the model for government misses an essential point that will be discussed at some length in the pages to follow. I’ll be making some assumptions that are definitely not intended to insult readers. The matters that inform the heart of the book are complex and are interconnected in sometimes mysterious ways. Democracy in the United States, for example, has been likened to (or even dependent upon) capitalism since before the Union was created. I should note the following: when the word “economy” is used throughout this work, it will signal the breadth of social, cultural, and political—as well as more general— economic phenomena. The three critical elements of the triad will be treated as ineluctably connected. The unified approach is not limited to the practical aspects and outcomes of daily life; it incorporates theory as well (understanding that some theorists also adopt a unified approach, even as others segregate the ph
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