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Kevin J. Brown

Essays

On Markets and Morals—Helpful Perspective from Michael Sandel

Michael Sandel has provided an interesting critique of markets that will likely be of interest to the socially concerned theologian. While this is an area he has long given attention to, his 2012 release What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets asks the question: “What is wrong with a world where everything is for sale?” Whereas theological appraisals of markets emphasize that “Markets marginalize,” Sandel has proclaimed “Markets leave their mark.” In other words, beyond inequality and fairness, Sandel asserts that markets don’t simply allocate goods, but they “express and promote certain attitudes toward the goods being exchanged”…..