Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-193) and index.

Theory -- Markets and the tyranny of the majority -- Are "lumpy" markets a problem? -- Empirical evidence -- Who benefits whom in practice -- Who benefits whom in the neighborhood -- Preference minorities as citizens and consumers -- Market solutions and their limits -- Market enlargement and consumer liberation -- Fixed costs, product quality, and market size -- Trade and the tyranny of alien majorities -- Salvation through new technologies -- Policy solutions and their limits -- Government subsidies and insufficient demand -- Books and liquor: two case studies.

Economists have long counseled reliance on markets rather than on government to decide a wide range of questions, in part because allocation through voting can give rise to a "tyranny of the majority." Markets, by contrast, are believed to make products available to suit any individual, regardless of what others want. But the argument is not generally correct. In markets, you can't always get what you want. This book explores why this is so and the consequences for consumers with atypical preferences