Are Markets Immoral? On Popes, Pencils, and Chicken Sandwiches

The conclusion that markets are immoral typically reflects – as it surely does in the case of Pope Francis – utter ignorance of the logic and history of markets (and governments).

by Donald J. Boudreaux
June 1, 2016

Are markets moral? This oft-asked question will be asked even oftener when Pope Francis visits the U.S. next week.

It’s one thing to conclude that markets are immoral after learning how markets work and what life would be like in their absence. Such a conclusion is intellectually defensible because it would reflect an informed – if, in my view, bizarre – value judgment.

But the conclusion that markets are immoral typically reflects – as it surely does in the case of Pope Francis – utter ignorance of the logic and history of markets (and of the logic and history of governments).

Markets are deeply moral, for they, compared to all feasible alternatives,

• are driven by voluntary choices rather than by diktats;

• concentrate the costs and the benefits of each choice as closely as possible on the individual who makes that choice;

• allow for great diversity of choices and life-styles;

• create mass flourishing; they raise the living standards of the poor far more than t…