The Moral Measure of the Economy [Paperback]

Chuck Collins (Author), Mary Wright (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books (May 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570756937
• ISBN-13: 978-1570756931
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,137 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chuck Collins is author of 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It (www.99to1book.org). He is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good (www.inequality.org). He is cofounder of Wealth for the Common Good (www.wealthforcommongood.org), a national network of business leaders and high net worth individuals concerned about shared prosperity and fair taxation. He is a national expert on economic inequality, tax policy, corporate power and class privilege and power. He lives in Boston, Mass.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A can-do guide to incorporating fundamental human values into one's economic beliefs and actions., October 6, 2007

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Moral Measure of the Economy (Paperback)

Institute for Policy Studies senior scholar Chuck Collins and JustFaith Ministries staff member Mary Wright combine their wisdom in The Moral Measure of the Economy, a guide written especially for Catholics in answer to the growing need for economic justice and a strong moral foundation in today's society. Chapters address "Catholic Teachings on Economic Life", "Global Trade and the Power of Corporations", "Solidarity in Action: Alternatives for a Just Economy", and much more. "As a society, we should not permit private actors, such as corporations, to shift their 'costs' onto the commons... A company, for example, has the choice of either illegally dumping polluted water into the stream (where we all pay the 'costs'), or cleaning the water, returning it to the stream, and building the extra cost into its product or service. Economists make the distinction here between 'externalizing' the cost - i.e., getting everyone else to pay - and 'internalizing the cost, by incorporating it into the cost of doing business... Wal-Mart externalizes the costs of its 1.3 million employees by paying them less than a living wage and providing fewer than half of them with health insurance - while encouraging them to enroll in taxpayer-funded health programs." Though The Moral Measure of the Economy is written especially to Catholics, its powerful message about the need for morality and social accountability to provide guidance to economic systems deserves to be heard by readers of all religious backgrounds. A can-do guide to incorporating fundamental human values into one's economic beliefs and actions.