Markets and Morality

Abstract

Chapter 4 raises the question of how markets and morality go together, and how our conception of honorable business might deal with some of the leading objections critics have raised to markets and business. It looks at and offers initial responses to a several worries, including inequality, unfairness and luck, externalities, low worker pay, price gouging, manipulation of consumer desires and choices, and profit-seeking. It also explores the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and the extent to which there can be such a thing as “honorable profit.” Finally, the chapter suggests that the field of political economy, which informs the argument of this chapter and the book, is an exercise not in ideal theory but rather in practical, second-bests—and, as such, should aim at steady and widespread improvement if not perfection.