Critics of the free market system often point out that it is an unfair system due to it leaving some with wealth at the expense of oppressing others. What those critics often ignore is that exchanges in this economic structure are voluntary. Each side comes out of the interaction with their desired result. Since the seller is amassing wealth by helping others get the goods and services they need, isn’t that more moral than proposed socialist solutions?

When it comes to the relationship between morals and economics, Dr. Walter Williams has this to say, “Unless you believe that there’s a tooth fairy or a Santa Claus giving government the money, the only way the government can give one American citizen one dollar is first through intimidation, threats, and coercion. (To) confiscate it from some other American first. And I’m very sure that when Moses came down with The Commandments, one of them being “Thou shall not steal,” it didn’t mean that thou shall not steal unless you had a majority vote. And it probably also meant that you shouldn’t be a recipient of stolen goods. I think that there’s this problem of whether morality is a majoritarian thing.”

Join Walter, along with Dr. Karen Vaughn, to see how this is viewed within the church in this episode of the Free To Choose Media Podcast, “Morality of the Free Market.” Originally Recorded: 1993