ANOTHER MARKET FAILURE

(h/t Dennis G. at Balloon Juice)

Stephen Marche of Esquire has an interesting explanation for the shameless hackery of Niall Ferguson:

Ferguson’s critics have simply misunderstood for whom Ferguson was writing that piece. They imagine that he is working as a professor or as a journalist, and that his standards slipped below those of academia or the media. Neither is right. Look at his speaking agent’s Web site. The fee: 50 to 75 grand per appearance. That number means that the entire economics of Ferguson’s writing career, and many other writing careers, has been permanently altered.

The real point is that Ferguson only cares about cashing in and from a narrowly economic perspective, who can blame him?