Book SummaryWhat Money Can't Buy, by Michael J. Sandel

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of What Money Can't Buy

In What Money Can’t Buy, philosopher Michael J. Sandel argues that market values have become society’s dominant moral framework, the lens through which we determine what is important or unimportant as well as right and wrong. Sandel warns that the logic and incentives of markets—where there’s no limit on what’s for sale as long as someone’s willing to buy it, and individual self-interest trumps the common good—have supplanted older value systems which held that some things were too important to be subject to the impersonal and calculating forces of supply and demand. He writes that this triumph of market values has had severe negative moral and social consequences.

(Shortform note: Defenders of free markets would argue that Sandel’s concerns about market values ignore the great benefits that capitalism has delivered to humanity. Some commentators write that the spread of capitalism has been the single most important factor in alleviating global poverty and raising worldwide standards of living. In the 200 years since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution—when global capitalism arguably entered its modern phase—the share of the world population living in extreme poverty has fallen from 94% to less than 10%.)

In this guide, we balance out Sandel’s perspective on market values by incorporating commentary from more pro-capitalist writers who make the moral case for markets.

We start by defining market values and examining the reasons why their proponents believe that the...

What Money Can't Buy Summary What Are Market Values?

Sandel defines market values as the logic, attitudes, and assumptions that govern markets—where there’s no limit on what’s for sale as long as someone’s willing to buy it, and individual self-interest trumps the common good. Below, we’ll explore the primary arguments defenders of market values use to support their position.

The Efficiency Argument

Sandel writes that supporters of market values claim free markets are the optimal (most “efficient”) way for society to distribute scarce resources. The primary way the market allocates resources is through the price system. In a free price system, there is no need for an external actor (like a government or regulatory authority) to limit or set quotas on what goods or services are to be produced—prices do that on their own, determining what goods are to be produced, in what quantities, and who will get them.

The invisible hand of supply and demand, according to the free-market argument, provides the key self-correcting mechanism that makes the price system work. For example, when the price of Good A increases, consumers start to demand less of it or find...

What Money Can't Buy Summary The Rise of Free-Market Economics

We’ve discussed what market values are and what their defenders say are their benefits, but how did these values come to dominate society in the first place? Sandel suggests that the expansion of free-market values began with a political shift to the right in the 1980s, largely due to the rise of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and US President Ronald Reagan. It was their political success that created the conditions for capitalist values to permeate into spheres of life that had previously existed apart from the market.

As Sandel writes, Thatcher and Reagan were the leading ideological proponents of neoliberalism—believing that a reduction in taxes on the wealthy, privatization of previously state-owned enterprises, and an overall reduction of the state’s role in the economy would unleash a new wave of investment and prosperity. These two leaders substantially remade the economic order in each of their countries—bringing down inflation, sharply reducing top marginal tax rates, and deregulating a wide range of industries from aviation to trucking to banking.

**Was the Conservative Revolution a...

What Money Can't Buy Summary Markets Are Unfair and Restrictive

Sandel has several critiques of this marketization of society. We’ll start by examining his arguments that 1) free markets create inherent inequalities and injustices and 2) free markets often eliminate free choice for people and force them to make dangerous or unethical decisions.

The Injustices of the Price System

Earlier, we explored the pro-market argument that prices represent the fairest and most equitable way to allocate society’s scarce resources. According to this argument, if the price of a good (in a properly functioning market) reflects its true value and someone’s willingness to pay that price reflects how much they value that good, then prices will always get the goods to those who value them most.

However, Sandel writes that the distribution of resources—often essential resources—on the basis of the price system is incompatible with widely accepted moral principles.

He writes that someone’s willingness to pay the asking price for something does not necessarily mean that they need or want it more than someone else, and that, therefore, free markets create inherent inequalities and injustices.

Those with substantial means can afford things...

What Money Can't Buy Summary Markets Corrupt Our Values

So far, we’ve explored Sandel’s argument that our free-market society often deprives people of essential needs, limits our freedoms and experiences, and forces us into exploitative and unfair economic arrangements.

In this chapter, we’ll explore Sandel’s other principal critique of the free market society—namely, that the very act of putting certain goods, services, and experiences up for sale corrupts, cheapens, and degrades them.

Sandel writes that market values have migrated out of their traditional economic sphere and intruded into other aspects of life—such as healthcare, education, family, law, justice, and democracy—where they are inappropriate. According to Sandel, the logic of the market—where supply and demand reign supreme above all other moral and ethical concerns—has overtaken older systems of values that held that some parts of the human experience were too precious to be bought and sold as commodities.

Is Capitalism the New Religion?

Although Sandel doesn’t explicitly mention it, the idea that some elements of life and the human experience ought to be free from the invisible hand of the market often came from religious traditions like...

What Money Can't Buy Summary The Social Impact of the Market Society

We’ve seen Sandel argue that the intrusion of markets into non-market spheres of life exploits the vulnerable, deprives us of choices we would otherwise have, and degrades our virtues as a society. Here, we’ll explore the social impact of living in a market society—how it affects our relationships to one another, dilutes our understanding of ourselves as a shared community, and makes us less happy as individuals.

Advertising in Public Spaces

Sandel notes that the intrusion of market forces into non-market spaces can often be seen literally, in the form of prominent commercial advertisements in the kinds of public spaces where they were once off-limits. He argues that the clutter of advertising and its intrusion into non-traditional spaces changes not only the aesthetics of the physical space, but also the ways we experience them.

Sandel observes that advertisements have permeated into nearly all aspects of social, civic, and public life—you can find them in city squares, public transportation systems, sports stadiums, government buildings, educational institutions, and even houses of worship all over the world. Firstly, notes Sandel, this can be an eyesore...

What Money Can't Buy Summary Conclusion: Defining the Limits of Markets

Throughout this guide, we’ve seen Sandel make several moral objections to the marketization of modern society. He notes the tendency of markets to exploit the vulnerable and present us with the illusion of choice, while actually restricting our real freedoms; their negative effect on our collective virtue; and their destructive impact on the common good.

In the end, Sandel writes, we must collectively discuss and decide: What are the moral limits of markets? Should we allow the free market to put a price on social goods like education and healthcare, as well as values and ideas like privacy, democracy, civic participation, and community? And what should money not be able to buy?

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Shortform Exercise: Debate Markets and Morality

Explore the proper balance between markets and morality.

Imagine you were participating in Sandel’s discussion about markets and morality. What role would you argue for markets to play in our society? Should we place greater restrictions on markets or remove existing restrictions on them? Explain your answer.

Shortform Exercise: Explore the Consequences of Living in a Market Society

Sandel argues that our market society exacerbates the divide between rich and poor people. Reflect on what that divide looks like and what, if anything, we can do about it.

Do you agree that we live in a stratified, polarized society with a large gap between the rich and poor, as Sandel describes? Explain why or why not.