So what does the current wreckage of the global financial system tell us about the theoretical virtues of the market economy?

That is the opening of Frank Ackerman's paper on the market and the global financial crisis. Frank provides an extraordinarily important and timely analysis of four fundamental flaws in the market system. His analysis points the way to the public interventions and regulations over the market that are necessary to move not only towards a more stable system, but also a more just one. 

Frank Ackerman is an economist who has written extensively about the economics of climate change and other environmental problems. His books include Can We Afford the Future? Economics for a Warming World (fall 2008), Poisoned for Pennies: The Economics of Toxics and Precaution (2008), Priceless: On Knowing the Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing (2004), and Why Do We Recycle? Markets, Values, and Public Policy (1997).He has written numerous academic and popular articles, and has directed policy reports for clients ranging from Greenpeace to the European Parliament. Since 2007, he has worked jointly with GDAE and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), leading a research program on climate economics.