Is the Market Moral?: A Dialogue on Religion, Economics, and Justice (Pew Forum Dialogues on Religion & Public Life) Review

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Is the Market Moral: A Dialogue on Religion, Economics, and Justice (Pew Forum Dialogues on Religion & Public Life) ReviewThe format of this relatively short book by Rebecca Blank and William McGurn is that each author presents an essay on the morality of markets, then a (shorter) reply to the other's essay, and then finally some (shorter still) concluding remarks. In a sense, the book essentially presents a substantive (yet polite) debate that was carefully prepared over a number of months.
Please note both the title of this book, "Is the Market Moral?", and the sub-title, "A Dialogue on Religion, Economics & Justice." If you are looking for a secular discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of market-based economies, this is not your book--because both authors incorporate extensive discussion of Christian beliefs and concepts. One of the authors is a Protestant and the other is a Catholic; however, although their Christian reasoning develops along somewhat different paths, their different views about the morality of markets are not due to denominational differences. Indeed, their basic views as Christians are pretty similar.
When it comes to the authors' views on the right and wrong roles for government in market economies, there are much more important differences. However, it's important to understand that this book is not a debate between a socialist and a capitalist. Both of the authors are mainline commentators on contemporary economics. Blank served on the Council of Economic Advisers for Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and she is an economics professor at the University of Michigan. McGurn has served on The Wall Street Journal's editorial board and has spent considerable time witnessing developing economies in Asia. In many respects, the two authors are more alike than different in their evaluation of the benefits and limits of market economies. Both authors, for example, freely acknowledge that markets have greatly advanced standards of living for the poorest people on Earth, and that in many situations there is no better means of achieving efficiency and prosperity than through markets. Both authors would also acknowledge that markets can't work as well when some costs (or benefits) are not captured by private markets--such as can be the case with pollution, for example. Still, there are enough differences to make for some lively, though always well-mannered, discussion. For example, in terms of delivering some measure of economic justice, however you might define that, Blank discusses more instances of "market failure," and McGurn addresses more examples of "government failure."
The beauty of this book is that the reader is treated to well-written, rational arguments that challenge one's thinking--all without incorporating any of the name-calling that is all too commonly a part of what can pass for intelligent discourse today. Many readers will identify more closely with either Blank's or McGurn's arguments, but at least they will be exposed to intelligent, thoughtful counter-arguments. More basically, maybe I ought to say that we readers can benefit from the realization that these counter-arguments actually exist--and that not all the choices societies face when contemplating the benefits and limitations of markets are necessarily as black or white as some presume. For that realization alone, this book is well worth reading. For a more detailed and thoughtful discourse on economics and justice, viewed partly through the prism of Christian teaching, it is still more valuable.
Is the Market Moral: A Dialogue on Religion, Economics, and Justice (Pew Forum Dialogues on Religion & Public Life) OverviewIn the great tradition of moral argument about the nature of the economic market, Rebecca Blank and William McGurn join to debate fundamental questions - equality and efficiency, productivity and social justice, individual achievement and personal rights in the workplace, the costs and benefits of corporate and entrepreneurial capitalism. And they do so grounded in both economic sophistication and religious commitment. This book grapples with the new imperatives of a global economy while working in the classic tradition of political economy which always treated seriously the questions of morality, justice, productivity and freedom.

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