Mike O’Donnell — Charles Wright Mills’ Sociological Imagination and why we fail to match it today

Oldie but goodie. Excellent short summary of the contributions of C. Wright Mills. 

"Follow the power."

Power should be central to economics. Economists recognize that market imperfections arise from asymmetrical market power. These imperfections are the basis of economic rents — financial rent, land rent, natural resources rent, and monopoly-monopsony rent. Market power is also the basis for socializing negative externality, also a from of rent extraction.

For example, a way to address "paying for" the New Green Deal is to impose the true cost of energy on markets instead of socializing the costs related to health and climate change consequent to negative externality resulting from carbon-based energy use.

The Sociological Imagination
Charles Wright Mills’ Sociological Imagination and why we fail to match it today

Mike O’Donnell | Emeritus Prof of Sociology at Westminster University