Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale: The Moral Limits of Markets

A rigorous and pertinent inquiry into the relationship between morality and markets and the need for regulation of specific commodity markets. Moving deftly between the registers of the economist and the philosopher, Satz, professor of ethics at Stanford University (and coeditor of Toward a Humanist Justice), argues that faith in the intrinsic fairness and self-regulatory abilities of an unfettered free market is misguided, especially when markets are permitted to dictate the sale of, say, vital organs or the dumping of toxic wastes. Offering surprising readings of such classic economists as Adam Smith, the author distinguishes between effective, efficient markets and "noxious markets" in need of strict regulation to avoid commercial infringements on equality and citizenship. With whole chapters devoted to such specific case studies as child labor and prostitution, Satz admirably attempts to enrich dry analyses with live issues. Despite a reliance on notions like morality and citizenship that are perhaps question-begging in themselves, the author makes a persuasive case for the claim that markets cannot be detached from the social world of which they are part and upon which they impact in myriad ways. (July)