Telecommunications and Economic Development by Robert J. Saunders,Jeremy J. Warford and Bjorn Wellenius, (Johns Hopkins University Press for the World Bank,Baltimore, 1983) pp. 395, $US32.50 (hb), $14.95 (pb), ISBN: 0-801-82828-7 (hb), 0-801-82829-3 (pb)

The economic justification for government support for science and technology has been commonly based on the concept of market failure. The general theoretical argument is that governments should intervene in cases where the free market fails to achieve an efficient allocation of resources. In this paper, the inadequacies of the concepts of market failure as they apply to policy are outlined. Its use in the political process, given these restrictive shortcomings, is also considered. Examples are drawn from Australian experience in science and technology policy over the past few years to support the claim that the concept is neither a sufficient basis nor an adequate guide for government intervention. Rather it has been used to justify politically determined decisions. Special reference is made to the Australian Industrial Research and Development Incentives Scheme.     

The Media by Keith Windschuttle (Penguin,Ringwood, Vic., 1984) p. xi + 436, $12.95, ISBN: 0-14-006848-1

Despite a dramatic growth in interest in technology over the last two decades, this has not resulted in a clear understanding of either the nature of technological change or the basis for its regulation. Part of the problem is the ambiguous heritage of science, technology and society studies which rose to prominence in the 1970s. This paper seeks to provide a theoretical scheme for categorising the commonly used models of technological change: to outline the limitations of ‘technocratic’ and ‘technophobic’ approaches to technology and social development and argue for the superiority of an explicitly ‘technochoice’ approach; and to discuss the dominant models for the public control of technology.