Free Market Fairness
| Authors | John Tomasi |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Publication date | 2012 |
Free Market Fairness is a 2012 book of political philosophy written by John Tomasi, a Professor of Political Philosophy at Brown University. Tomasi presents the concept of "free market fairness" or "market democracy," a middle ground between Friedrich Hayek and John Rawls's ideas. The book was widely reviewed.
Content
Tomasi looks at followers of Friedrich Hayek on the right and John Rawls on the left, only to conclude that both views are not mutually exclusive.[1] Taken together, they can lead to "free market fairness" or "market democracy," whereby the government is not prescriptive, but makes sure opportunities are available to all.[1][2]
Critical reception
Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Adam Wolfson suggested, "Mr. Tomasi's book is emphatically a work of political theory, not a blueprint for political action, much less a catalog of policy solutions."[3] In The Financial Times, Samuel Brittan criticized this, adding, "Unfortunately the book does not live up to its splendid introduction."[4] He concluded, "Tomasi describes free-market fairness as a research programme rather than a fixed dogma. There is clearly a lot more to research."[4]
In Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, Andrew Koppelman, a Professor of Law at Northwestern University, suggested, "Tomasi's book is a useful corrective to both Rawls and Hayek."[5] However, he argued that Tomasi's ideas were at times unrealistic, warning, "Ideals can be dangerous if too far removed from the realities of human life."[5] Similarly, The Boston Review published a nuanced review, commenting, "The book is written in a friendly, relaxed tone," but adding that his arguments were not "persuasive."[6] They concluded by disagreeing with Tomasi, concluding, "The moral goods of exercising freedom through market activities would be more widely realized under a regime of Rawlsian property-owning democracy than under the sort of minimally regulated capitalism that Tomasi celebrates."[6]
In the peer-reviewed academic journal Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society, Dr Mark Pennington, a Professor of Political Economy at King's College, London suggests the book "offers a challenging and innovative case for classical liberalism."[7] In another peer-reviewed academic journal, The Journal of Politics, Eric MacGilvray, a Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University offered a similarly positive review, starting with "I find a lot to praise in Free Market Fairness."[8] He went on to critique Tomasi's use of the word "libertarian" as both pro-free market and "high liberal."[8] Moreover, in The Mises Review, the journal of the libertarian think tank Ludwig von Mises Institute, David Gordon praised the book, adding "every reader of his book will learn a great deal from it."[9]
References
- ^ a b Richard N. Cooper, Free Market Fairness, Foreign Affairs, November/December 2012
- ^ Free Market Fairness, Cato Institute
- ^ Adam Wolfson, Occupy Common Ground, The Wall Street Journal, March 29, 2012
- ^ a b Samuel Brittan, Free Market Fairness, The Financial Times, May 6, 2012
- ^ a b Andrew Koppelman, Book review: Free Market Fairness, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, May 5, 2012
- ^ a b Martin O'Neill, Thad Williamson, Free Market Fairness, The Boston Review, November 5, 2012
- ^ Mark Pennington, [Realistic Idealism and Classical Liberalism: Evaluating Free Market Fairness], Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society, 08 Oct 2014
- ^ a b Eric MacGilvray, [1], The Journal of Politics, Volume 75, Issue 02, April 2013
- ^ David Gordon, Free Market Fairness, Mises Review, Volume 18, Number 1, January 2012