The John Templeton Foundation hosts a series of “Big Questions” discussions. They ask each question to leading scientists, scholars, and public figures.
The latest question is: “Does the Free Market Erode Moral Character?”
The responses to this question really get to the heart of the current debate about the role that free markets and capitalism played in today’s economic woes. I would encourage everyone to ponder the responses these folks offer, as we need a more informed debate about what really has been going on and where we go from here.
I will offer my thoughts….
Free markets are morally neutral — neither good nor bad. What brings morality into free market activities are the actions of people.
People’s decisions and actions become habits. First we choose to lie, but eventually if we continue to lie we become a liar. Virtues are habits, and these habits shape our character over time.
It is time to stop blaming morally neutral systems for what we do and who we become. Ultimately, we become good or evil through our own actions and decisions that are taken through our own free will.
It is time to take a long, hard look at our culture; for it is there that we find our shared sense of right and wrong. We must stop the folly of deferring morality to governmental policy and regulatory control.
(Thanks to my colleague Harry Hollis for passing along the Templeton link).
Interesting post. This touches on something I have been thinking about lately, but from a legal perspective. Specifically, our system of holding officers and directors of public companies accountable is based exclusively on financial results. Such perameters fail to reward a company for a moral but less than financially optimal course of action. Directors have a duty to act in the best interest of the shareholders but this extends only to what is financially best for them, with no consideration given to the “greater good.” If the market (investors and customers alike) demanded moral outcomes, we would see more of them.
All the free market does is identify what we value. If we do not like the results, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.