A new framework for studying markets as the product of organizational planning and understanding the practical limits of market design. The Western Energy Crisis was one of the great financial disasters of the past century. The crisis began in April 2000, when price spikes started to rattle California-s electricity markets. These new markets, designed to introduce competition and, ideally, drive down prices, created new opportunities for private companies. Within a year, however, California-s three biggest utilities were on the brink of bankruptcy. Competing for energy at public auctions, providers were unable to afford the now wildly expensive energy their customers needed. In sheer desperation, California-s grid operator instituted rolling blackouts to accommodate the scarcity. Traffic lights, refrigerators, and ATMs stopped working. It was a perfect scandal-especially when it turned out that the energy sellers had manipulated the market to drive up the prices and then profit from th
