The Public Option cover art

The Public Option

How to Expand Freedom, Increase Opportunity, and Promote Equality

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Public Option

By: Ganesh Sitaraman, Anne L. Alstott
Narrated by: Christopher Grove
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Whenever you go to your local public library, send mail via the post office, or visit Yosemite, you are taking advantage of a longstanding American tradition: the public option. Some of the most useful and beloved institutions in American life are public options - yet they are seldom celebrated as such. These government-supported opportunities coexist peaceably alongside private options, ensuring equal access and expanding opportunity for all.

Ganesh Sitaraman and Anne Alstott challenge decades of received wisdom about the proper role of government and consider the vast improvements that could come from the expansion of public options. Far from illustrating the impossibility of effective government services, as their critics claim, public options hold the potential to transform American civic life, offering a wealth of solutions to seemingly intractable problems, from housing shortages to the escalating cost of health care.

From broadband internet to higher education, The Public Option reveals smart new ways to meet pressing public needs while spurring healthy competition. More effective than vouchers or tax credits, public options could offer us all fairer choices and greater security.

©2019 Ganesh Sitaraman and Anne L. Alstott (P)2019 Tantor
Political Science Politics & Government Social Policy Social Sciences United States World Government Taxation Capitalism Health Care Socialism

Listeners also enjoyed...

Unbound cover art
Freedom or Equality cover art
Cooperation and Coercion cover art
The Sickness Is the System cover art
The Captured Economy cover art
Milton Friedman cover art
The New World Economy: A Beginner's Guide cover art
The Case for a Job Guarantee cover art
Rollback cover art
A Capitalism for the People cover art
Confronting Capitalism cover art
The Vanishing Middle Class cover art
The Occupy Handbook cover art
Creditocracy cover art
Greedy Bastards cover art
Beyond Outrage cover art
No reviews yet