Traditional public policy and welfare economics have held that “market failures”—the presumed inability of a free market to deliver certain goods and services deemed to be in the public interest—are common and require government intervention to protect the public good. But is this actually the case?

The Independent Institute book, Beyond Politics, by Senior Fellow Randy Simmons, carefully scrutinizes this view through the modern theory of public choice and systematically explains how government is producing a scandal of political myopia, economic stagnation, and public distrust. The book traces the anatomy of “government failure” and a pathology of political institutions. Social welfare, consumer protection, education, trade, the environment, and crime are some of the topics the book examines.

Originally published in 1995, Beyond Politics has been updated to provide readers with insights about the crash of 2008, America’s fiscal crisis, and other realities of twenty-first century political economy. Offering a powerful perspective on market processes, property rights, politics, and government bureaucracy, this newly revised and updated edition is a lucid and comprehensive examination of the foundations of a free and humane society.

Here is an interview of Dr. Simmons by the renowned economist William Shughart II:

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