Journal of Markets & Morality is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty. The journal promotes intellectual exploration of the relationship between economics and morality from both social science and theological perspectives.

News

The Globethics library contains articles of the Journal of Markets & Morality as of vol. 1(1998) no. 2 to current.

Recent Submissions

  • Three Forms of Friendship in the Market

    LaRose, Rachael Behr; Storr, Virgil Henry (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    This article examines the possibility of friendship in commercial society. While the literature surrounding friendship in the market is growing, it has not adopted a common definition of friendship, and thus often addresses varying forms of friendship. To clarify this debate, we employ Aristotle’s three forms of friendship—utility, pleasure, and the highest form—which helps to analyze the viability of these different forms of friendships in the market. From our analysis, we argue that the lower forms of friendship (utility and pleasure) can and often do develop in the market, though the highest form of friendship is less likely but is still possible in the market. Using existing academic literature and novel survey evidence, we analyze the potential of each form of friendship in the market to understand how possible these friendships are within market spaces.Rachael Behr LaRose and Virgil Henry Storr, "Three Forms of Friendship in the Market," Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 2 (2023): 153-179
  • Review of "Climate Change, Radical Uncertainty and Hope: Theology and Economics in Conversation" by Jan Jorrit Hasselaar

    Vantassel, Stephen M. (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    Climate Change, Radical Uncertainty and Hope: Theology and Economics in ConversationJan Jorrit HasselaarAmsterdam University Press, 2023 (180 pages)
  • Review of "The Hope of the Poor: Philosophy, Religion and Economic Development" by Gordon Graham

    Martinez, Gabriel (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    The Hope of the Poor: Philosophy, Religion and Economic DevelopmentGordon GrahamUnited Kingdom: Imprint Academic (IPS), 2023 (230 pages)
  • "Is Social Justice Just?" edited by Robert M. Whaples, Michael C. Munger, and Christopher J. Coyne

    Wenzel, Nikolai (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    Is Social Justice Just?Robert M. Whaples, Michael C. Munger, and Christopher J. Coyne, eds.Oakland, CA: Independent Institute, 2023 (376 pages)
  • Review of "The Individualists: Radicals, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of Libertarianism" by Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi

    Spencer, Andrew J. (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    The Individualists: Radicals, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of LibertarianismMatt Zwolinski and John TomasiPrinceton: Princeton University Press, 2023 (432 pages)
  • Considerations for Remuneration in Papal Social Encyclicals

    Fragomeni, Paolo; Chan, Christopher (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    Papal encyclicals have been a source of study for various philosophers, theologians, and more recently, business ethicists. Several social encyclicals have contributed to the corpus of Catholic social teaching. Drawing from Rerum Novarum, Quadragesimo Anno, Mater et Magistra, Pacem in Terris, Populorum Progressio, Redemptor Hominis, Loborem Exercens, Centesimus Annus, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Veritatis Splendor, Deus Caritas Est, Evangelium Vitae, Caritas in Veritate, and Laudato Si, the issue of “fair and just” remuneration is discussed. We also draw from Gaudium et Spes and the Compendium of the Social Teachings of the Church. Despite having a religious basis, these social encyclicals also have important ramifications for secular scholars because they appeal to stakeholders’ mutual duties and responsibilities in facilitating a socially just workplace. These teachings, rooted in natural law, focus on the harmony between labor and capital to bring about prosperity for nations and their citizens.Paolo Fragomeni and Christopher Chan, "Considerations for Remuneration in Papal Social Encyclicals," Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 2 (2023): 211-229
  • "Social Justice" as a Standard for Institutions and Policy

    Peterson, Ben (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    The concept of "social justice" has ardent advocates and avid foes. Drawing from the modern tradition of Catholic social teaching, I develop a conceptualization of social justice that is sensitive to the critiques of scholars who charge that the concept is unfit to serve as a standard for normative evaluation because it is necessarily statist and egalitarian. I propose defining social justice as the securing of that to which members of a society are due according to mutual obligations enforceable by a public authority, as essential to the common good. The conceptualization offers a framework for clear debate about social justice-based claims.Ben Peterson, "'Social Justice' as a Standard for Institutions and Policy," Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 2 (2023): 231-255
  • Review of "Healthy and Wealthy? A Biblical-Theological Response to the Prosperity Gospel" edited by Robert L. Plummer and "Rich in Good Deeds: A Biblical Response to Poverty by the Church and by Society" edited by Robert L. Plummer

    Schansberg, D. Eric (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    Healthy and Wealthy? A Biblical-Theological Response to the Prosperity GospelRobert L. Plummer, ed.Dallas: Fontess Press, 2022 (200 pages)Rich in Good Deeds: A Biblical Response to Poverty by the Church and by SocietyRobert L. Plummer, ed.Dallas: Fontess Press, 2022 (214 pages)
  • Contributors Index (vol. 26)

    Staff, JMM (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    Alphabetical listing, by author, of contributions to the Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 1 and 2 (2023).
  • Editorial: Friendship, Markets, and Reciprocal Gifts

    Pahman, Dylan (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    In his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI highlighted the inadequacy of a social imaginary that only includes the market and the state:The exclusively binary model of market-plus-State is corrosive of society, while economic forms based on solidarity, which find their natural home in civil society without being restricted to it, build up society. The market of gratuitousness does not exist, and attitudes of gratuitousness cannot be established by law. Yet both the market and politics need individuals whoare open to reciprocal gift.How might we conceptualize these “economic forms” of “reciprocal gift” that reside in “civil society” and are “based on solidarity” but are neither market nor state? Friendship fits the bill.Dylan Pahman, "Editorial: Friendship, Markets, and Reciprocal Gifts," Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 2 (2023): 145-150
  • A Norman Paradigm? Scholastic Reasoning, Jesuit Pedagogy, and the Emergence of Political Economy

    Patriarca, Giovanni (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    Due to Normandy’s peculiar local and environmental characteristics, it was an ideal microcosm and an original laboratory, in which the multiform mediation of late scholasticism generated an unexpected intellectual vitality in a context of encounter and clash with the theological-philosophical disputes of the Reformation. The Norman exceptionality as a focal point and natural multiplier in the evolutionary process of political economy deserves its due attention, as well as the thread from Oresme to Montchrétien, William Petty, and Boisguilbert, as well as their connection to the Jesuit pedagogy.Giovanni Patriarca, "A Norman Paradigm? Scholastic Reasoning, Jesuit Pedagogy, and the Emergence of Political Economy," Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 2 (2023): 181-209
  • Contributors

    Staff, JMM (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    Authors and bios for JMM 26.2
  • The God of the Market: A Molinist Response to James M. Buchanan’s Atheism

    Russo, Christopher M. (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    James M. Buchanan makes a striking claim: If humans have free will, then even an omniscient planner cannot foreknow the outcomes of market exchange. For Buchanan, this claim demonstrates the impossibility of achieving market outcomes by central planning. However, I argue that the Christian God would foreknow market outcomes. Moreover, despite Buchanan’s atheism and antitheism, his presuppositions (free will, subjective consciousness, and reason) carve out an explanatory role for the existence of God. In turn, God provides a foundation for objective moral value, and our creation in his image objectively defines our personal identities. These conclusions contravene Buchanan's "normative individualism" defense of liberty. Rather, on a Catholic view, one should defend liberty because of its essential role in achieving the common good.Christopher M. Russo, "The God of the Market: A Molinist Response to James M. Buchanan’s Atheism," Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 2 (2023): 257-273
  • Review of "Danish Capitalism in the 20th Century: A Business History of an Innovistic Mixed Economy" by Stefan Kirkegaard Sløk-Madsen

    Munger, Michael C. (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2024-01-26)
    Danish Capitalism in the 20th Century: A Business History of an Innovistic Mixed EconomyStefan Kirkegaard Sløk-MadsenCham, Switzerland: Palgrave MacMillan, 2022 (204 pages)
  • Review of "The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and Markets" by Samuel Gregg

    Hemphill, Thomas A. (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2023-06-13)
    The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and MarketsSamuel GreggNew York: Encounter Books, 2022 (335 pages)
  • Contributors

    Staff, JMM (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2023-06-13)
    Authors and bios for JMM 26.1
  • Nineteenth-Century British Christian Socialism: Association rather than Competition

    Emmett, Ross B. (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2023-06-13)
    This article traces the origins, varieties, and trajectory of Christian socialism in Britain in the nineteenth century. Reacting to theological acceptance of the new science of political economy, particularly as articulated by the Rev. T. Robert Malthus, as well as, after his time, the divergence of mainstream economics from theology, the Christian socialists sought a foundation for Christian political economy other than competition. They believed to have found it in cooperation, but what that meant to conservative Anglican clergymen F. D. Maurice and Charles Kingsley differed from the more radical J. M. Ludlow. Nevertheless, together their grassroots efforts differed from later generations’ advocacy for state action, which would ultimately taint the movement’s reputation in the twentieth century, though it has seen a resurgence since the ministry of Tony Blair.Ross B. Emmett, "Nineteenth-Century British Christian Socialism: Association rather than Competition," Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 1 (20223): 7-25
  • Christian Theology and American Economics: From the Free Market to Socialism

    Bateman, Bradley W. (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2023-06-13)
    This article examines the different trajectory of Christian theology in nineteenthcentury American economics as compared to its trajectory in nineteenth-century British economics. While this trajectory is not identical in the two countries, there are several important similarities. Understanding the similarities, as well as the differences, requires an understanding of the influence of both American exceptionalism and the role of republican ideology in nineteenth-century American thought.Bradley W. Bateman, "Christian Theology and American Economics: From the Free Market to Socialism," Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 1 (2023): 69-84
  • Wealth and Commerce in Eastern Christian Thought

    Whitener, Wilson; Salter, Alexander W. (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2023-06-13)
    Markets create material prosperity. But does that increase in wealth come with a spiritual cost? The Eastern Orthodox church has long maintained a tradition of thought that is skeptical about wealth and warns of the effect it may have on the state of one’s soul. More recently, some contemporary Orthodox theologians have also begun to turn a critical eye toward activities and institutions associated with wealth, namely commerce, trade, and markets. In this article, we will argue that this need not be the case. Drawing upon multiple sources, including pre-Chalcedonian church fathers such as St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil, and St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Holy Scripture, and the monastics, we argue that one can distinguish between moral perspectives about wealth and commerce. Specifically, we call attention to an underappreciated tradition of Patristic thought that maintains a cautious optimism about commerce.Wilson Whitener and Alexander W. Salter, "Wealth and Commerce in Eastern Christian Thought," Journal of Markets & Morality 26, no. 1 (2023): 105-125
  • Review of "What We Owe the Future" by William MacAskill

    Stein, Joshua (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, 2023-06-13)
    What We Owe the FutureWilliam MacAskillNew York: Basic Books, 2022 (352 pages)

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