Whoever Said that Markets Were Fair?

The popular notion that markets are “fair” is wrong. Working from theory and behavioral research, the author examines the foundations of markets and their relationship to negotiations. In the process, she demonstrates that there is nothing inherently fair about supply and demand curves or market clearing prices. Although market price information may provide a reasonable standard for resolving a price negotiation, it too has little to do with intrinsic fairness. Markets are efficient and incredibly powerful at organizing people and allocating resources, but the idea that they have anything to do with fairness (or unfairness) is a socially-constructed illusion.