Introducing Market Forces into "Public" Services

by Arthur Seldon

Introducing Market Forces into “Public” Services is the fourth volume in Liberty Fund’s The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon. It brings together six of Seldon’s most pivotal essays that discuss his alternative proposals for paying for “public” services rather than through coercive taxation. Specifically, Seldon focuses on the varied use of vouchers and the choices people have regarding purchasing or receiving such public services as health care and education. The recurring theme, as noted in Colin Robinson’s introduction, is that “non-market provision, financed by taxpayers, leads to a fatal disconnection between suppliers and consumers.”

Throughout this book, Seldon examines the options and obligations of the government as the “middle-man.” Seldon creates a compelling case that through a return to market principles, “efficiency in the provision of these services will improve, and, above all, people will regain the incentive to provide for themselves instead of relying on the state.” This volume is an invaluable resource for those embroiled in the public debate over such issues as education vouchers, managed health care, and overwhelming taxation.

The entire series includes:

Volume 1: The Virtues of Capitalism (September 2004)
Volume 2: The State Is Rolling Back (November 2004)
Volume 3: Everyman's Dictionary of Economics (January 2005)
Volume 4: Introducing Market Forces into "Public" Services (February 2005)
Volume 5: Government Failure and Over-Government (May 2005)
Volume 6: The Welfare State: Pensions, Health, and Education (October 2005)
Volume 7: The IEA, the LSE, and the Influence of Ideas (December 2005)

434 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

About the author

Arthur Seldon was the Editorial Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs from the late 1950s until the later 1980s. At the IEA, he directed a publishing programme that included some of the world’s most eminent economists, including FA Hayek and Milton Friedman. Arthur Seldon was a prolific author and one of the most influential economists of the late twentieth century.