Moral Foundations: Rights and Obligations in Markets

This chapter of Part I of Social Economics examines rights and obligations in market settings, asking questions such as What obligations (and rights) do businesses and individuals have to each other? Do these obligations and rights extend beyond our time (to past or future generations)? A key observation is that ethics and economic choices cannot be separated. Views from leading economists, such as Amartya Sen, are discussed, with application to pharmaceuticals. Major ethical approaches to addressing questions of economic rights and obligations—Utilitarian, Kantian, and Virtue ethics are detailed. Examples include distinctions between obligations of doctors, lawyers, mechanics, real estate agents, and stockbrokers. Moral assessments of markets challenge our conceptions of economic systems themselves, and have practical implications, such as how much government intervention in the economy we support. Consider guaranteed employment: A business may not have the obligation to employ a particular individual, but does an individual have a right to employment generally? Or does the community have the obligation to ensure employment of all? Such questions are central to economic systems of whatever variety, though economics can offer no definitive answer. The best it can do is be part of the conversation and help frame the discussion.