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Capturing the Public Interest

Promoting Planning in Conservative Times

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Following Calavita and Krumholz’s answers to conservative attacks on planning, this commentary offers another way to promote planning in public discourse. Transaction cost theory (TCT) debunks the "planning versus markets" dichotomy, relieving planning advocates from claiming the need for public intervention, an argument that encounters frequent skepticism. TCT makes the case for planning in three ways: (1) rejecting generalizations, it focuses debate on specific cases; (2) breaking the link between planning and government, it disarms conservative critics; (3) it provides an authoritative theoretical base for answering neoliberal attacks on public planning. Convincing people that planning (not only as public intervention) is necessary and enhances their welfare is an argument that can be won.

Key Words: transaction cost theory • government intervention • planning • welfare economics

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