Morality & Markets: The Ethics of Government Regulation - Tapa dura

Whether to regulate, what to regulate and how much to regulate? The answers to these questions determine the state of regulation of commercial markets. In this thoughtful and carefully argued book, Professor Soule provides a morally pragmatic roadmap for answering these questions. -- Norman Bowie, University of Minnesota Finally-a much needed book on the intersection of morality, regulation, and markets! In the spirit of John Stuart Mill, Soule intelligently approaches the question of regulatory strategy for markets. The book is nicely balanced with contemporary case studies, clearly written, and will appeal to moral philosophers and those working in business ethics and public policy. -- Patricia Werhane, University of Virginia This book is a valuable catalyst for thought and a welcome departure from the economist's 'monistic' regulatory strategy. * Ethics and Economics * Ed Soule is that rare person who has been very successful in business and now brings his prodigious knowledge of that form of life to a study of the morality of markets. The book is simply first-rate philosophical analysis. And it has the added virtue, in my opinion, of formulating highly plausible normative and practical conclusions as well. -- Larry May, Washington University

Morality & Markets poses the question: OWhat morally justifies government intervention in the commercial affairs of private citizens?O Its author, Edward Soule, proposes what he dubs a Regulatory Strategy, a set of rules for determining the moral legitimacy of regulation. The strategy combines the political philosophies of John Locke and John Stuart Mill with economic theory and commercial history. Soule then puts his framework into action, testing the morality of regulation in contemporary commercial disputes, including capital markets and genetically modified foods.