Images of the Market: Is Competitive De-regulation Inescapable?

With the end of the cold war, governments of the leading countries, with their citizenries no longer exposed to the threat of nuclear war, were released from the duty to improve the material well-being of all of their citizens. Instead, states now aim to maximise opportunity for their people, to privatise state activities, and to make government more responsive to the market in its function. However, it is worth asking whether states really have no choice but to engage in competitive de-regulation. The argument that this is the case is premised on the view that, in a market composed of numerous players, the players are unable to co-ordinate their courses of action to realise their common interests. This paper argues that there is ample possibility for the governments to collaborate for the common interests of the global society.