Michael Sandel explains in his book, What Money Can’t Buy, how the markets have made commodities out of almost everything. He explains his reasoning in his lead essay How Markets Crowd Out Morals on the Boston Review. His argument generates discussion and gives readers food for thought about how they feel about these issues. The following writers are featured on the Boston Review for their responses to Sandel’s article. Is there someone you agree with most? Who do you disagree with? Discuss these topics in the comments below.
Richard Sennett
When the market is everywhere, we lead a socially impoverished existence.
Matt Welch
Because Sandel disagrees with people’s choices, he wants to take those choices away.
Anita L. Allen
Financial incentives are improperly used to induce African Americans to embrace “good” behaviors.
Debra Satz
Debating the place of the market is less about the value of goods than about inequality.
Herbert Gintis
Tolerance, equality, and democracy have only flourished in market societies.
Lew Daly
Making money, formerly an exclusive realm of cosmic evil, is now “doing God’s work.”
Samuel Bowles
Even market enthusiasts know that society can’t function if people are the amoral, self-interested calculators of blackboard economics.
Elizabeth Anderson
The profit motive is corrupting the justice system.
John Tomasi
Free markets are a kind of fairness.
Michael J. Sandel replies
By keeping markets in their place, we can avoid their corrosive effects.
(Courtesy of www.bostonreview.net)
15 Responses to Boston Review: How Markets Crowd Out Morals [Forum]