Community through market competition

Caleb Althorpe

Economics and Philosophy, 2026, vol. 42, issue 2, 280-301

Abstract: This paper uses the link between markets and the meeting of needs to argue the ostensible tension between market exchange and community can be overcome. It argues this can occur within a market economy with the following features, and that these features can be stable. First, individuals use as their motivation to act competitively in response to market signals the very social benefits that this behaviour brings about. And second, market control and regulation turn market competition from a high stakes into a low stakes (but still serious) friendly competition.

Date: 2026
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