Christian Economic Ethics by Finn Daniel K

Author:Finn, Daniel K. [Daniel K. Finn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4514-5228-0
Publisher: Fortress Press
Published: 2013-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

The Moral Ecology of Markets

In attempting to provide solutions to the four problems of economic life just examined, individuals and groups have had strong disagreements as to what would be the best way to structure economy and society. We have answers that range from Marxist communism on the left to libertarian individualism on the right, with many alternative perspectives in between. One of the most difficult parts of entering into such disputes is the fact that many people involved in them are so overly confident in the truth of their own position. They not only fail to see any truth in the positions of others, but they are unable to see that they could even have a reasonable dialogue with their opponents because they begin from a radically different starting point.

The framework of a moral ecology of markets helps to overcome this apparent inability of intellectual opponents to talk to each other. It outlines four fundamental issues on which each perspective takes a position, even though at times only implicitly.[2]

One important feature to keep in mind is that not all markets are the same. How markets are defined and how they interact with other parts of human life can vary greatly. For example, economists Luigino Bruni and Stefano Zamagni have made a historical study of the rise of markets in Italy in the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries.[3] They argue that we today could learn much from those “civil markets” in how they integrated productive efficiency with moral values and the common good. Their claim that capitalist markets today are but one form of markets is the sort of insight that the framework of the moral ecology of markets can help make clear. Differences in the character of markets can be traced to differences in the four elements in the moral ecology of markets.

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