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AbstractEconomists generally study financial regulation in a 'market failure' context. Market failures, as defined in undergraduate textbooks, are identified and government action is proposed to remedy those failures. Quite apart from objections to the market‐failure model that can come from many perspectives, this approach ignores the ways in which regulatory institutions can develop within financial markets. Indeed, such institutions were the norm in the UK until the mid‐1980s, and they still exist today. This article proposes that economists should take this observed reality into account. When considering the appropriateness of government intervention, they should first study the relative advantages and disadvantages of private and government regulation.

AbstractThe BBC has been financed by a hypothecated tax levied on the use of television sets since 1946. For most of the subsequent period, there has been substantial governmental control of both broadcast content and platforms. The economic arguments for different types of intervention in public service broadcasting were discussed in the 1986 Peacock Report, which proposed radical change. This article uses a similar methodology to that of the Peacock Committee and concludes that the case for government support for public service broadcasting has been undermined by technological developments which the Committee anticipated. It is further argued that the BBC should be financed largely by subscription and should adopt a mutual governance structure.