The Free Market and the Moral Limits Book Review: Sandel M. J. (2012) What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, London: Allen Lane

Kirill Makarov ()
Additional contact information
Kirill Makarov: National Research University - Higher School of Economics

Journal of Economic Sociology, 2015, vol. 16, issue 1, 70-80

Abstract: Modern society, in which it is possible to buy or sell most goods, is regarded as far more rationally arranged comparing to those where goods distribution is grounded on the principle of reallocation or of reciprocity. Indeed there is rationale for considering that a market, if not hindered by other forces, will distribute goods effectively, providing to those who are able and willing to pay for them. However the question is: does this lead to a welfare state? Or does it cause social atomization, inequality of growth and a predominance of economic calculation? Commodification is a process that is registered through the whole history of capitalism’s development. Although it may be regarded as a natural market attribute, commodification should be permanently examined with thoroughness and never neglected. Allowed out of control, commodification may lead to an unexpected aftermath, reshaping the image of society in an undesirable way. Pricing goods does not change their functionality but it surely alters the meaning that commodity might have attached to it. Michael Sandel’s new book, “What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets” is all about the destructive outcomes of an uncontrolled commodification process

Keywords: market economy; capitalism; commodification; social inequality; moral; values (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://ecsoc.hse.ru/en/2015-16-1.html (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hig:ecosoc:v:16:y:2015:i:1:p:70-80

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Economic Sociology from National Research University Higher School of Economics
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Zoya Kotelnikova () and Zoya Kotelnikova ().