Market design from the Perspective of Theological Anthropology, by Christina McRorie (in the January 2027 ASSA program)

I'm always on the lookout for different perspectives on market design, and here's a paper that caught my eye in the  ASSA Preliminary Program for the January 2027 meetings in Washington DC.

 It's in a session called  What Economic Models Can and Cannot See: Human Flourishing, Freedom, and the Common Good (B4)  Hosted by the Association of Christian Economists 

Can Market Design Make Us More Free? Some Notes on the Use of Experimental Economics from the Perspective of Theological Anthropology  by Christina McRorie, Boston College 

Abstract
Although modern thought tends to construe freedom as freedom from constraint or freedom of choice, Catholic theological anthropology has long defined true freedom as the state of being agentially oriented toward the good. As Servais Pinckaers puts it, it is “freedom for,” rather than “freedom from”—specifically, freedom for living in a Christ-like way, which becomes possible as we come to participate in Christ’s character. This perspective suggests that social influences which encourage our growth in character are not only helping us become more good, but also more free. Moreover, because this conception of freedom is not based in autonomy, this remains true even if these formative influences are not chosen by us, and work on us without our awareness.
Using this concept of freedom, this paper considers the theological implications of experimental research on prosocial behavior in markets. It appears that certain conditions encourage subjects to act with more fairness, trustworthiness, and even generosity than they might under other conditions. (E.g., when market participants can observe each other’s behavior and communicate, and when the social framing of various options emphasizes values, or at least does not emphasize competition or the threat of loss, among other factors.) Insofar as laboratory studies replicate conditions present in actual markets, this indicates that some real markets elicit more moral behaviors than others.
Moreover, because virtue theory assumes that character is built through repeated moral action, markets which encourage individuals to act in prosocial ways can be read as supporting their growth in virtue, insofar as these elicited actions eventually influence individuals’ dispositions and habits. To the extent that this occurs, this paper proposes that good market design can encourage us to become more good, and thus more free. 

Two audio podcasts about Moral Economics, interviews by a Texan, and by a libertarian

 First, from NPR radio station KERA for North Texas, the Think talk show podcast (interview by Krys Boyd):

What black markets can teach us about the economy
June 3, 2026 

  "To really understand the nuts and bolts of economics, look to the black market. Alvin E. Roth is Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics at Stanford University and the George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard University. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2012. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his work on organ donation which led him to study what he called “repugnant transactions” like sex and drugs and why he feels banning them completely doesn’t always have the effect we think it does. His book is “Moral Economics: From Prostitution to Organ Sales, What Controversial Transactions Reveal About How Markets Work.”


    Transcript (also at the above link)

Here's a very contemporary Texas question: 

"Krys Boyd [00:25:48] I’m really curious, Alvin, about whether making things illegal has much of an effect on things. I live in Texas, where recreational marijuana is against the law. I can tell you just anecdotally that it appears to not stop very many people. You pose this interesting question about why the laws work pretty well to keep people from committing murder for hire, but not so well at all from buying and selling illegal drugs. "

######### 

And here, from the libertarian think tank Cato is the  Cato Podcast • June 4, 2026   The Markets We Love to Ban (audio only, interview by Ryan Bourne)

"Kidneys, surrogacy, prostitution, gambling, price gouging, assisted dying: some transactions make people recoil, even when all parties consent. Cato’s Ryan Bourne talks with Nobel Prize-winning economist Alvin Roth about his new book, Moral Economics, what makes markets “repugnant,” what economists can add to moral debates, and why banning exchange rarely makes scarcity, exploitation, or hard trade-offs disappear." 

 

Freedom Festival

 Passover is the Freedom Festival.

The word of the day is LIBERTY (in all it's complications)

A happy and safe Passover to all who celebrate.