Journal of Markets & Morality (vol. 19, no. 1)

Part 2 of 5 in series "Journal of Markets & Morality"

The Journal of Markets & Morality is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty. It seeks to bring together theologians, philosophers, economists, and other scholars for dialogue concerning the morality of the marketplace. From each issue that is made open access (1 year after publication) we select some articles for you.

This time: Vol 19, No 1 (2016) – full table of contents

Selection from the Articles

Common Grace and the Competitive Market System - Jeffrey E. Haymond

Abstract

This article reviews the biblical doctrine of common grace and evaluates the consistency of competitive free markets with that doctrine. Common grace helps explain much of the good found in a fallen world, while also providing an explanation for why fallen men do not act worse than they do. Competition is seen as a form of God’s common grace because it provides the institutional incentives to constrain market participants from predation and exploitation, while encouraging social cooperation and mutually beneficial exchange. (view article)

Jeffrey E. Hammond, “Common Grace and the Competitive Market System”, Journal of Markets & Morality 19, no. 1 (Spring 2016): 79–98.

Review of "Corporate Welfare: Crony Capitalism That Enriches the Rich" by James T. Bennett

About this book (source: Amazon.com)
From the time of Alexander Hamilton’s “Report on Manufactures” through the Great Depression, American towns and cities sought to lure footloose companies by offering lavish benefits. These ranged from taxpayer-financed factories, to tax exemptions, to outright gifts of money. This kind of government aid, known as “corporate welfare,” is still around today. After establishing its historical foundations, James T. Bennett reveals four modern manifestations.
His first case is the epochal debate over government subsidy of a supersonic transport aircraft. The second case has its origins in Southern factory relocation programs of the 1930s―the practice of state and local governments granting companies taxpayer financed incentives. The third is the taking of private property for the enrichment of business interests. The fourth―export subsidies―has its genesis in the New Deal but matured with the growth of the Export-Import Bank, which subsidizes international business exchanges of America’s largest corporate entities.
Bennett examines the prospects for a successful anti-corporate welfare coalition of libertarians, free market conservatives, Greens, and populists. The potential for a coalition is out there, he argues. Whether a canny politician can assemble and maintain it long enough to mount a taxpayer counterattack upon corporate welfare is an intriguing question.
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Review of "The End of Socialism" by James R. Otteson

About this book (source: website Cambridge University Press)
“Is socialism morally superior to other systems of political economy, even if it faces practical difficulties? In The End of Socialism, James R. Otteson explores socialism as a system of political economy – that is, from the perspectives of both moral philosophy and economic theory. He examines the exact nature of the practical difficulties socialism faces, which turn out to be greater than one might initially suppose, and then asks whether the moral ideals it champions – equality, fairness, and community – are important enough to warrant attempts to overcome these difficulties nonetheless, especially in light of the alleged moral failings of capitalism. The result is an examination of the ‘end of socialism’, both in the sense of the moral goals it proposes and in the results of its unfolding logic.”
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