Market Pathology and the Range of Commodity Exchange: A Preliminary Sketch

What role the market should play in the allocation of social resources is a controversial topic in most modern industrial societies. On one side of the debate, there are those who argue that ideally the market should be the sole mechanism for determining problems of production and distribution.¹ For such theorists, the slogan 'let the market decide' encapsulates the essence of good politics. On the other side, there are those who believe that the market should be constrained by state regulation, in order to ensure, amongst other things, justice and financial stability.