Introduction
In his thought-provoking book "What Money Can't Buy," philosopher Michael J. Sandel explores the expanding role of market thinking in our society and its implications for our moral and civic life. Over the past few decades, the principles of buying and selling have seeped into areas of life traditionally governed by non-market norms. Sandel argues that this trend raises important ethical questions that we as a society need to grapple with.
The book examines numerous examples of how market logic has entered spheres like education, health, public safety, environmental protection, and civic duties. Through these case studies, Sandel illustrates the moral and social costs of treating everything as a commodity that can be bought and sold. He makes a compelling case for why we should be concerned about the growing reach of markets and market values into all aspects of life.
The Spread of Market Thinking
One of the key themes Sandel explores is how market thinking has expanded far beyond the realm of material goods and services. He notes that over the past 30 years, markets and market-oriented thinking have come to govern more and more aspects of life - from education and healthcare to personal relationships and civic duties.
This shift happened gradually and largely unnoticed. As free markets proved to be efficient mechanisms for generating economic growth and wealth, especially after the end of the Cold War, market logic was increasingly applied to other spheres of society. The idea that everything has its price and can be bought and sold became more prevalent.
Sandel provides numerous eye-opening examples of this trend:
- In some U.S. cities, you can pay to jump to the front of the line at airport security.
- For a hefty annual fee, you can get your doctor's personal cell phone number for 24/7 access.
- In Dallas, children are paid $2 for each book they read.
- Private security firms now handle many policing and prison management duties.
- Some drug rehab programs pay addicts to stay clean.
These examples show how monetary incentives and market mechanisms are being used to allocate all kinds of goods and services, even in areas traditionally governed by other values and norms.
The Moral Implications of Market Expansion
While acknowledging that markets can be useful tools in many contexts, Sandel argues that the spread of market thinking into all domains of life raises troubling moral and social questions. He outlines several key concerns:
1. Fairness and Inequality
As more things become commodities to be bought and sold, those with money gain greater advantages, exacerbating inequality. When access to healthcare, education, political influence, and other important goods is allocated by markets, it creates a society where money matters too much. The wealthy can essentially buy their way to better lives, while those with less means are left behind.
2. Corruption of Values
Putting a price on everything can degrade the moral and civic character of goods and social practices. Some things lose their meaning or value when turned into mere commodities. For instance, friendship, civic duty, or environmental stewardship may be cheapened if reduced to financial transactions.
3. Coercion and Exploitation
In a society where everything is for sale, people with fewer resources may be forced into degrading or exploitative exchanges just to make ends meet. Is it truly a free choice if someone agrees to be a human guinea pig for drug trials or sells their organs out of economic desperation?
4. Crowding Out of Non-Market Values and Norms
Introducing market incentives can undermine or replace important non-market norms and motivations. For example, paying kids to read books might crowd out intrinsic motivations to learn. Fining parents for late daycare pickups might erode their sense of moral obligation.
5. Attitudes and Social Relations
Widespread market thinking can change how we view ourselves and relate to others. It may lead to more instrumental, transactional attitudes rather than seeing intrinsic worth in people and experiences.
Case Studies: Markets in Unexpected Places
To illustrate these concerns, Sandel examines numerous real-world examples of market mechanisms being applied in non-traditional domains. A few notable cases:
Paying to Skip the Line
In many contexts, from amusement parks to airport security, people can now pay extra to jump to the front of the queue. While this may seem efficient, it raises questions of fairness and erodes the democratic principle of equal treatment. It also changes the social meaning of waiting in line from a shared civic experience to a purely economic transaction.
Cash for Sterilization
A controversial American charity called Project Prevention pays female drug addicts to get sterilized or use long-term birth control. While this market-based approach has reduced the number of drug-addicted babies born, it raises serious ethical issues. Is it exploiting vulnerable women? Does it commodify human reproduction in a troubling way?
Paying Kids to Read
Some schools have experimented with paying students cash incentives for reading books or getting good grades. While this may boost short-term performance, Sandel argues it teaches the wrong lesson about the value of learning and crowds out intrinsic motivation.
Selling Citizenship
Several countries now essentially sell citizenship or residency rights to wealthy foreigners who make large investments. This commodification of citizenship raises questions about the meaning of national belonging and civic obligations.
Tradable Pollution Permits
Market-based approaches to reducing pollution, like cap-and-trade systems, have gained popularity. But do they send the wrong message that it's okay to pollute as long as you pay for it? Does this corrupt our sense of environmental responsibility?
Life Insurance for Soldiers
Some companies have offered to buy life insurance policies from soldiers headed to war zones, betting they'll die in combat. While potentially lucrative for both parties, this practice seems to commercialize and trivialize the sacrifice of military service.
Through these and many other examples, Sandel illustrates how market thinking raises complex moral questions when applied to various domains of life. He argues we need to carefully consider the non-market values at stake before reflexively applying market solutions to social problems.
The Limits of Economic Theory
Sandel contends that mainstream economic thinking is ill-equipped to grapple with the moral complexities raised by expanding markets. Standard economic theory tends to assume that:
- Free markets are the most efficient way to produce and distribute goods
- Allowing voluntary exchanges between consenting adults increases overall welfare
- Moral and civic concerns can be reduced to individual preferences that can be satisfied through market mechanisms
These assumptions lead many economists to favor market solutions and to be skeptical of restrictions on what can be bought and sold. They often argue that moral qualms about commodification are irrational and that expanding markets into new domains will increase efficiency and social welfare.
However, Sandel argues this view is overly simplistic and ignores important moral and civic values that can't be reduced to mere individual preferences. It fails to account for how markets can corrode social norms, exacerbate unfairness, or degrade the meaning of goods and practices.
He contends that economics alone cannot resolve questions about where markets do and don't belong. These are fundamentally moral and political questions that require ethical reasoning and democratic deliberation.
Rethinking the Role of Markets
While Sandel is critical of market overreach, he does not advocate abolishing markets altogether. Rather, he calls for a more nuanced approach that recognizes both the power and the limits of markets. He suggests we need to:
Acknowledge that markets are useful tools in many contexts, but not a panacea for all social problems.
Recognize that some things should not be bought and sold, or at least not without careful restrictions.
Consider the moral and civic values at stake when deciding whether to apply market mechanisms in a given domain.
Foster public debate about the proper scope of markets and where to draw the line.
Cultivate and protect non-market values and norms that are important for a flourishing society.
Address underlying inequalities that force people into degrading market exchanges.
Develop alternative, non-market approaches to allocating important goods and incentivizing desirable behaviors.
The Importance of Civic Virtue and Altruism
One key argument Sandel makes is that we should be wary of crowding out civic virtue and altruistic motivations by relying too heavily on financial incentives. He challenges the economic view that altruism is a scarce resource that should be conserved.
Instead, Sandel suggests that our capacity for virtue and altruism can grow with practice. By creating opportunities for people to act on moral and civic impulses, rather than always appealing to self-interest, we can cultivate a society with stronger social bonds and civic engagement.
For instance, relying on voluntary blood donation rather than paying people for blood may result in a more robust culture of altruism that spills over into other domains. Emphasizing civic duty rather than financial rewards for voting or jury service may strengthen democratic participation.
Sandel argues that appealing to people's better nature and giving them chances to exercise moral and civic virtues is important for creating the kind of society most of us want to live in. Over-reliance on market mechanisms may lead to an impoverished civic life.
Weighing Costs and Benefits
Sandel acknowledges that in many cases, the use of market mechanisms involves difficult trade-offs. The moral costs of commodification must be weighed against potential benefits.
For instance, paying children to read books may indeed incentivize more reading in the short term, especially among disadvantaged youth. The question is whether this benefit outweighs the potential harm of teaching kids that reading is just another way to make money rather than something intrinsically valuable.
Similarly, market-based approaches to reducing pollution like cap-and-trade systems may achieve environmental goals more efficiently than command-and-control regulation. But we must consider whether they send the wrong message about our relationship to nature.
Sandel argues there's no simple formula for resolving such dilemmas. Each case requires careful consideration of the specific context and values at stake. We must ask not just whether a market solution is efficient, but whether it's ethically appropriate given the nature of the good in question.
The Need for Public Debate
Given the complex trade-offs involved, Sandel emphasizes the need for robust public debate about the role of markets in society. He argues that for too long, the creep of market thinking into new domains has gone unexamined and unchallenged.
We need to have difficult conversations about questions like:
- What values do we want to protect from market forces?
- How do we balance efficiency with fairness and other moral concerns?
- What are the social meanings and non-market values at stake in different contexts?
- Where should we draw the line between what can and can't be bought and sold?
Sandel contends these are not just technical economic questions, but profound moral and political issues that go to the heart of what kind of society we want to create. They can't be resolved by economic analysis alone, but require ethical reasoning and democratic deliberation.
He calls for reinvigorating public discourse about the common good and the moral limits of markets. This means creating forums for citizens to debate these issues and developing a richer public philosophy that goes beyond the market paradigm.
Implications for Policy and Governance
Sandel's arguments have important implications for how we approach policy and governance:
Policymakers should consider moral and civic values, not just economic efficiency, when designing interventions.
We need better frameworks for evaluating the non-economic costs and benefits of market-based policies.
Alternatives to market mechanisms should be explored more thoroughly in domains like healthcare, education, and environmental protection.
Democratic processes for deliberating on the proper scope of markets should be strengthened.
Civic institutions and opportunities for exercising moral and civic virtues should be bolstered.
Underlying inequalities that lead to unfair or coercive market exchanges should be addressed.
Regulatory frameworks may be needed to restrict commodification in sensitive domains.
Conclusion: Reclaiming Moral and Civic Space
In conclusion, Sandel makes a powerful case that we need to push back against the notion that everything should be up for sale. While markets are powerful tools, they have limits. Some aspects of life should be protected from market forces to preserve important moral and civic values.
He calls on us to reclaim spaces for moral and civic discourse that have been eroded by market thinking. This means fostering public debate, cultivating civic virtue, and developing a richer understanding of the common good that goes beyond maximizing consumer welfare.
Ultimately, Sandel argues, the question of where markets belong is not just about economics, but about what kind of society we want to live in. Do we want a market society, where everything is for sale? Or a market economy, where markets are useful tools but don't dictate all of social life?
By grappling seriously with the moral limits of markets, Sandel suggests we can create a society that harnesses the power of markets while preserving the moral and civic goods that give life meaning. This is the vital task he leaves us with - to think critically about the role of markets and reclaim our capacity to shape the moral and civic character of our world.
Final Thoughts
"What Money Can't Buy" is a thought-provoking and timely book that challenges us to think more deeply about the role of markets in our lives. Sandel's clear prose and compelling examples make complex philosophical ideas accessible to a broad audience.
While some may disagree with Sandel's conclusions, his core argument - that we need to consider the moral and social implications of market expansion - is hard to refute. At the very least, the book succeeds in sparking important conversations about values, fairness, and the kind of society we want to create.
In an era when market logic seems to be spreading ever further into all domains of life, Sandel's call to examine and debate the moral limits of markets is more urgent than ever. This book provides a valuable framework for citizens, policymakers, and anyone interested in the intersection of economics, ethics, and civic life to think through these vital issues.
Ultimately, "What Money Can't Buy" reminds us that there are some things that money shouldn't be able to buy - and that preserving non-market values is essential for a flourishing society. It challenges us to move beyond narrow economic thinking and reclaim our capacity for moral and civic discourse about the common good.