Logic of the Market
Goals: Profit/growth/accumulation
Defining Characteristics: competition and efficiency.
Defining Strategies: Maximize efficiency and control to minimize risk over
1. Production process:
- raw material (for example, steel and education)
- production
- distribution
- labor
- consumer demand (is market consumer driven or is consumer demand determined by industry)
- search for new markets, deeper markets, new products
2. Political context:
- all laws and regulations relating to each of the above: lobbying the government.
- fairness of the market (see Thomas on Television Myths)--- media become engaged in representing themselves and the reasonableness of this economic process.
3. Tensions
- successful competition encourages the elimination of competition
- priority of efficiency displaces other values which cant be reduced to efficiency.
- efficiency and control argue against innovation, but innovation needed for expanding markets and efficiency.