Author : Michael Sandel
Publisher :Allen Lane
No.of pages :235
Price :Rs.550
Year :2012
Have you ever heard of a company
which makes money from having people on
its rolls to stand in for you in a
queue?Have you also known that among these line standing business companies,
there are companies which specialize in certain types of line standing- for
example, in the US Congressional committee hearings? That in US, where one has
to wait for weeks and months for appointments with doctors, a concierge
services have been offered by doctors at annual fees ranging from $1,500 to
$25,000 for assuring same day or immediate appointments and 24-hour access to
the doctor by email and cell phone? That
doctors and insurers offer cash incentives to patients to take drugs
prescribed?That at times fines may be
considered as fees which lead people not to refrain from wrong
doings?That a non-violent criminal can upgrade the prison cell – a clean,
quiet jail cell- by paying something like $82 per night?
These and many other things one
can get to know and become enlightened
on the numerous ways of how market factors pervade even areas which many
of us thought were not or could not be influenced by markets, if we read What Money Can’t Buy by Michael Sandel.
Prof Sandel describes how the ’non-judgmental stance toward values lies at the heart of market reasoning and explains much of its
appeal’. And, according to him, ‘our reluctance to engage in moral and spiritual
argument, together with our embrace of
markets , has exacted a heavy price; it
has drained public discourse of moral and civic energy , and contribute to the
technocratic, managerial politics that afflicts many societies today’.One clear
advice that emanates from Mr.Sandel is that one has to also follow moral judgments on markets
and its behaviours.Our society, by and large, don’t permit selling of children
or votes because selling these things will result in valuing them in the wrong
way and cultivate bad attitudes.
Prof.Sandel also provides us with
new insights regarding what corruption actually entails.The general assumption
about corruption is ill-gotten gains.But according to him, corruption refers to
more than bribes and illicit payments.’To
corrupt a good or a social practice is to degrade it, to treat it according to
a lower mode of valuation than is appropriate to it ‘, according to Sandel.Also,
we can ascribe corruption when buying and selling happens in something that
should not be up for sale.Hence, he
asserts that charging admission to
congressional hearings is a form of
corruption from this angle.He says that the process of charging treats Congress
as if it were a business rather than institution representing government.
Most of the economists do not
deal with moral questions in their usual role as economists.They believe in the
price system that allocates goods/services according to people’s preferences;
they don’t bother about whether those
preferences were worthy or admirable or even appropriate to the
circumstances.For example he cites an economic analysis of marriage by Nobel-winning economist Gary
S.Becker.According to Becker, a person decides to marry when the utility
expected from marriage exceeds that expected from remaining single.Also, a
married person divorces when the utility anticipated from becoming single or
marrying someone else exceeds the loss in utility from separation,
including losses due to separation from one’s children, division of joint
assets, legal fees etc. And Prof.Sandel
is of the opinion that love,
obligation and commitment in marriage
are ideals that can’t be reduced to
monetary terms and that a good marriage is priceless.
Prof.Sandel also explains how at times
fines will be considered as fees by those who pay fines.He narrates the
experience of an Israeli day-care facility for children which imposed a fine on
those parents who come late to collect their wards, causing lot of
inconveniences for the day-care centre.According to pricing norms of economics
theory, the instances of late collection of
their wards must have come
down.But, the number pf parents coming late to collect their wards in fact
increased.This, according to Prof.Sandel, is the result of the parents treating the fines as fees.
Sandel also gives a number of
example where incentives have failed to work contrary to the economists’ view
of incentives. He cites a case how 51% of a
Swiss community accepted the proposal to have a particular place
identified for nuclear waste disposal as
they thought it was a civic duty on them
in spite of the risks.But as economists added
sweeteners- to pay compensation for each resident of the community as
high as their median monthly income, the
support came down from 51% to 25% as the residents felt that the compensation
was a sort of bribe to buy their votes.
For the inquisitive and
discernible reader, the book offers very interesting insights.A must read for
those who study and follow market-oriented economic aspects.
About the author
Prof.Michael J.Sandel is the Anne
T. and Robert M.Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University.His course
‘Justice’ is a big hit at Harvard and is
freely available online.He was named the ‘most influential foreign figure of
the year’ in 2010, by China Newsweek. His book Justice, published in 2010(Farrar,
Straus and Giroux),is an international best seller.
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