DEVOURED
Markets in everything?
The author, a proponent of markets, expresses concern over the "ever-increasing overt marketization of society" where everything, including personal sentiment, is being assigned a price, potentially leading to widespread dissatisfaction.
What: Matt Glassman, while generally favoring well-regulated markets, observes a concerning trend of extreme marketization, where nearly everything is becoming a speculation and individuals are constantly forced to price things previously outside market calculations, like sentimentality for one's home under a hypothetical Harberger tax. This pervasive market logic, he argues, creates societal friction and a feeling of being exploited.
Why it matters: This piece explores the societal limits and psychological friction points of applying market mechanisms to all aspects of life, questioning whether maximal economic efficiency always aligns with human flourishing and pointing to a growing cultural pushback against relentless commodification.
Decoder
- Harberger tax: A tax system where an asset owner sets its value and pays a recurring tax on that value, with the catch that anyone can purchase the asset from the owner at that self-declared price. It aims to increase efficiency and reduce deadweight loss by incentivizing owners to declare a fair market price.
Original article
Properly implemented and regulated, markets are the best fundamental arrangement of society for maximizing human flourishing.
Explore all 68 articles in today's digest
Fresh dev news, AI-digested daily. Never miss a trend at devoured.fyi