Disagreements about the morality of markets, and about self-interested behavior within markets, run deep. They arise from perspectives within economics and political philosophy that appear to have nothing in common. In this book, Daniel Finn provides a framework for understanding these conflicting points of view. Recounting the arguments for and against markets and self-interest, he argues that every economy must address four fundamental problems: allocation, distribution, scale, and the quality of relations. In addition, every perspective on the morality of markets (...) addresses explicitly or implicitly the economic, political, and cultural contexts of markets, or what Finn terms 'the moral ecology of markets'. His book enables a dialogue among the various participants in the debate over justice in markets. In this process, Finn engages with major figures in political philosophy, including John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Michael Walzer, as well as in economics, notably Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, and James Buchannan. (shrink)

S’il manquait encore aux deux États irlandais le trait distinctif de la politique européenne moderne – une division gauche-droite nettement liée à la classe des électeurs – ne pouvait-on en déduire que, pour une fois, l’Irlande avait une longueur d’avance, annonçant l’américanisation prochaine de la vie politique européenne? Depuis septembre 2008, la crise mondiale a noyé ces visions sous un déluge d’eau glacée. L’État du sud, en chute libre, perd des emplois à une vitesse vertigineuse et a été contraint d’accepter (...) un « plan de renflouement » humiliant de l’UE et du Fonds Monétaire International. La récession a cruellement révélé les failles du modèle du « Tigre celtique ». S’il est trop tôt pour évaluer les effets à long-terme de la crise, il est d’ores et déjà évident que le parcours historique excentrique de l’Irlande est encore bien loin d’arriver à son terme. (shrink)

The Irish national revolution of 1916–23 left behind a partitioned island, with a northern segment that remained part of the United Kingdom and a southern ‘Free State’ – later to become a Republic – that was dominated by conservative forces. Most of those who had been involved in the struggle for national independence peeled off to form new parties in the 1920s, leaving behind a rump of militant Irish republicans. Sinn Féin and its military wing, the Irish Republican Army, would (...) pose the greatest threat to political stability in the two Irish states. Although the Irish left has historically been among the weakest in Western Europe, repeated attempts have been made to fuse republicanism with socialism, from the Republican Congress in the 1930s to the Official Republican Movement of the 1970s and ’80s. At present, Sinn Féin poses the main electoral challenge to the conservative parties in the southern state, while holding office in a devolved administration north of the border. Eoin Ó Broin’sSinn Féin and the Politics of Left Republicanismoffers an assessment of these efforts from a leading Sinn Féin activist who maintains a certain critical distance from his own party’s approach, whileThe Lost Revolutionby Brian Hanley and Scott Millar andINLA: Deadly Divisionsgive comprehensive accounts of two earlier left-republican projects. (shrink)