This is a systematic evaluation of the main arguments for and against the market as an instrument of social organization, balancing efficiency and justice . It links the distinctive approaches of philosophy and economics to this evaluation.

This clear and incisive book provides the ideal critical synthesis of the best thinking on one of the most important moral, social, and political issues of our time: the role of the market as a basic institution of social organization. It articulates the two main types of arguments for and against the market--efficiency arguments and ethical arguments--and examines their conceptual, empirical, and moral presuppositions, as well as their implications for capitalist, socialist, and market-socialist economic arragements. Among the many striking features of the argument is Buchanan's contention that the allegedly purely technical notions of efficiency current in the social science literature rest on unexamined ethical assumptions and that the ethical arguments offered by philosophers and political theorists depend upon unexamined assumptions about efficiency. Buchanan also contends that the problem of relativism for judgments comparing social systems is no less serious for efficiency claims than for ethical claims. This short, accessible book will raise the quality of the debate in both philosophy and the social sciences. It is an ideal introduction to its subject for students in political and social theory, economics, comparative politics, and philosophy.

In this collection of provocative essays, Joseph Heath provides a compelling new framework for thinking about the moral obligations that private actors in a market economy have toward each other and to society. In a sharp break with traditional approaches to business ethics, Heath argues that the basic principles of corporate social responsibility are already implicit in the institutional norms that structure both marketplace competition and the modern business corporation. In four new and nine previously published essays, Heath articulates the foundations of a "market failures" approach to business ethics. Rather than bringing moral concerns to bear upon economic activity as a set of foreign or externally imposed constraints, this approach seeks to articulate a robust conception of business ethics derived solely from the basic normative justification for capitalism. The result is a unified theory of business ethics, corporate law, economic regulation, and the welfare state, which offers a reconstruction of the central normative preoccupations in each area that is consistent across all four domains. Beyond the core theory, Heath offers new insights on a wide range of topics in economics and philosophy, from agency theory and risk management to social cooperation and the transaction cost theory of the firm.

In What Money Can't Buy, renowned political philosopher Michael J. Sandel rethinks the role that markets and money should play in our society. Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we put a price on human life to decide how much pollution to allow? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars, outsourcing inmates to for-profit prisons, auctioning admission to elite universities, or selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay? In his New York Times bestseller What Money Can't Buy, Michael J. Sandel takes up one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: Isn't there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they don't belong? What are the moral limits of markets? Over recent decades, market values have crowded out nonmarket norms in almost every aspect of life. Without quite realizing it, Sandel argues, we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. In Justice, an international bestseller, Sandel showed himself to be a master at illuminating, with clarity and verve, the hard moral questions we confront in our everyday lives. Now, in What Money Can't Buy, he provokes a debate that's been missing in our market-driven age: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society, and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets do not honor and money cannot buy?

This text introduces readers to the relationship between economics and ethics and to the application of economic ethics in the evaluation of the market. The insights it provides help to develop the reasoning and analytical skills needed to criticize economic analysis as well as to apply ethical concepts to moral issues in economic policy.

Promotes a deeper understanding of markets, corporate responsibility and business ethics Markets, Ethics, and Business Ethics provides an introductory discussion on basic, challenging concepts of business ethics: markets, property rights, law, and corporations.This title presents a balance of institutional perspectives and the concrete decisions people make within those institutions. The text studies the rules and incentives of a business system as well as the ethical decisions that people confront within their roles as consumers, investors, managers, owners, employees, and citizens. MySearchLab is a part of the Scalet program. Research and writing tools, including access to academic journals, help students explore ethics in even greater depth. To provide students with flexibility, students can download the eText to a tablet using the free Pearson eText app. Learning Goals Upon completing this book, readers should be able to: Assess arguments that respond to each other by either criticizing what has gone before or by developing themes in alternative ways.Recog Debate any given topic by considering the structure of the best competing arguments for any given position Critically assess leading controversies in business ethics NOTE: MySearchLab does not come automatically packaged with this text. To purchase the text with MySearchLab, order the package ISBN: 0205887759 / 9780205887750 Markets, Ethics, and Business Ethics Plus MySearchLab with eText -- Access Card Package Package consists of: 0205239927 / 9780205239924 MySearchLab with Pearson eText -- Valuepack Access Card 0205785840 / 9780205785841 Markets, Ethics, and Business Ethics

This book is an invaluable resource to understanding China and its impact on the world. It examines China’s leadership and how China should rebalance its goals by seriously working on the ethics of the society that it is creating. It argues that a more ethical society in which the Chinese masses can trust is a necessary prerequisite for the successful implementation of a consumption driven growth model, a model that China’s leadership has endorsed since 2008. It also puts forth that a more ethical society is a prerequisite for China receiving the international respect that China’s leaders crave.