Readings

There is nothing more satisfying -- and more rare, in these days of shout radio and television -- than a reasoned debate on a big, hairy issue between two respectful, articulate and knowledgeable people. And that is just what you'll find in a lovely little book published by the Brookings Institution, Is the Market Moral? Rebecca Blank, the labor economist and dean of the public policy school at the University of Michigan, follows her Protestant ethic toward a vision of market capitalism restrained, augmented and improved through government action. Her worthy opponent is William McGurn, chief editorial writer of the Wall Street Journal, who follows Catholic teachings toward a view of markets better constrained by culture than by government. The book is short, the interplay between them lively and the discussion far more nuanced than the usual diatribes about dog-eat-dog capitalism, homilies to freedom and musings on what Jesus would do. As a dialogue on religion, economics and justice, it makes for interesting holiday reading.

-- S.P.