1.
Who’s
in
control
?
Journal
entry
29/10/2010
Steven
Lauwers
If
the
market
controls
policy,
or
even
imprisons
it
as
Charles
E.
Lindblom
i
argues,
how
do
we
strike
a
balance
between
the
interest
of
the
market
and
the
interest
of
“we,
the
people”?
Who
controls
whom?
And
how?
Firstly,
I
would
like
to
specify
the
market
I
talk
about
in
this
journal
as
the
market
as
economists
would
define
it:
the
place
where
sellers
offer
a
good
and
buyers
buy
the
good
at
a
certain
price.
In
economic
theory,
a
perfect
market
is
one
where
aggregate
consumer
and
producer
surplus
is
maximized
without
government
intervention.
In
reality
a
market
cannot
be
seen
as
the
interaction
of
only
the
consumer
and
the
producer.
Earlier
this
week
I
listened
to
an
extremely
interesting
talk
by
Joseph
Nye
on
TED.
ii
He
acknowledges
the
market
as
a
key
power
in
global
society,
but
also
emphasizes
that
it
is
merely
one
of
the
powers.
I
think
it
is
too
easy
to
just
say
the
market
controls
policy
and
that
is
just
the
way
it
is.
I
do
not
want
to
minimize
the
influence
of
the
market
on
society:
I
agree
with
the
general
train
of
thought
of
this
week’s
readings
in
that
markets
exert
a
very
strong
influence
on
policy
making.
I
would
however
argue
that
this
influence
is
kept
in
balance
by
all
players
involved
in
policy
making
and
that
the
market
does
thus
not
imprison
nor
control
today’s
society.
At
least,
no
more
than
it
is
allowed
to
by
society.
Normally
the
actions
of
a
democratically
elected
government
reflect
what
“we,
the
people”
want.
So
if
a
substantial
influence
of
environmentalists,
as
Keleman
and
Vogel
iii
describe,
is
able
to
push
the
political
agenda
so
much,
that
EU
member
states
become
very
vocal
supporters
of
environmental
policy,
I
wonder
in
how
far
the
market
was
part
of
this
change?
Granted,
the
government
will
not
be
able
to
push
the
most
extreme
environmental
regulations
that
will
reduce

2. firm’s
profit,
but
neither
will
it
be
able
to
defend
no
regulations
at
all
to
its
voters.
Is
this
not
merely
finding
a
balance
between
all
players
of
society?
As
J.
Nye
concludes
in
his
talk
iv,
I
would
also
like
to
think
the
interaction
with
the
market
is
not
necessarily
“zero
sum”,
your
loss
is
my
gain.
I
would
rather
like
to
think
we
are
playing
a
–
difficult
–
game
of
“positive
sum”:
my
gain
(for
example,
the
gain
of
society
from
carbon
emissions
reductions:
increase
in
health,
less
de-­‐
forestation,
reduced
costs
on
health
care,…
)
does
not
have
to
be
your
loss,
but
can
also
be
your
gain
(firms:
healthier
workers,
increased
sales
because
of
a
better
image
of
the
firm,…).
At
least
that’s
what
I’d
like
to
think.
i
Lindblom,
Charles
(1982).
The
Market
as
Prison.
Journal
of
Politics,
44:
323-­‐336.
ii
TED
(2010).
Joseph
Nye
on
global
power
shifts.
Internet.
http://www.ted.com/talks/joseph_nye_on_global_power_shifts.html.
24.10.2010
iii
Kelemen,
R.
Daniel,
Vogel,
David
(2010).
Trading
Places:
The
Role
of
the
United
States
and
the
European
Union
in
International
Environmental
Politics.
Comparative
Political
Studies,
43(4):
427-­‐456.