Is Capitalism Immoral?

Cambridge economist Victoria Bateman considers the age-old question: Is capitalism immoral? Drawing on the insights of Adam Smith and David Hume, the answer she provides is a resounding no. She argues that four features of market societies are often underrated. 

1. Market prices encourage us to meet the needs of our fellow citizens, making our lives longer, less arduous and more pleasurable.

2. Markets, specialization, and the division of labor increase our productivity, freeing up resources from the drudgery of feeding and clothing ourselves, giving us time to contemplate higher things. 

3. Trade also increases tolerance of others. The profit motivation can overcome ethnic or religious discrimination. 

4. Capitalist societies offer an escape route for individuals persecuted by their own communities. Markets enable us to trade and interact anonymously — in a way that ensures we are fed and clothed without having to acquiesce to another’s worldview.

This is not to say that all market outcomes are necessarily desirable. Markets are institutionally embedded and how they function depends on these institutions and rules. But, Bateman notes in her conclusion, the heavy of hand of the state can often make things worse rather than better.