In a market economy, we have desires, wants and preferences. How do we balance these abstractions with rights, freedoms, moral obligations and duties?
By letting the buyer buy and the seller sell at the price agreed upon by the buyer and the seller, and without any third-party interference (unless otherwise agreed upon by the buyer and the seller).
Market is a place where the buyer meets the seller; nothing more, nothing less.
For many items, the market mechanism may not be appropriate. Think about human organs for sale in a market.
What is (not) appropriate is determined by the buyer and the seller: if the transaction occurs, the trade is appropriate.
Martin Klvana Many societies prohibit trade in many items. Are example, can I "buy" an academic degree? Can I buy "a position" in the government? Can I buy an Olympics gold medal?
A market economy is based on certain boundary conditions. For example, the idea that a transaction occurs to the advantage of both seller and buyer assumes implicitly that no fraud is taking place.
More fundamentally, the legal framework about contracts etc. is a requirement for a market economy to work. Therefore, the rule of law is a prerequisite for liberal markets. And to some extent, the specific law defines individual rights, duties, freedoms and obligations. As a quite general idea, the freedom of the individual has to be constrained such that it does not interfere with the freedom of others.
Of course, the state has to enforce the laws.
I’m inclined to say, “how do we balance [those] competing ideals” starts by understanding our ethical relationship with “freedom.” In our modern day, for the most part, freedom is a function of money. The more money one has, the more freedom there is to do and buy things. Only markets create wealth within a society, where money is a type of wealth storage.
Because money translates to freedom and the storage of wealth, the bio-program of our unalienable rights (“Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” aka the physical constructal law) provide reason to desire its accumulation by increasing freedom while reducing work during pursuit. It is hard to deny the powerful effects of money on the perception of freedom; and even harder to deny its potential effects on morality and power.
More on the constructal law (fifth edition out this July):
https://www.academia.edu/37021128/Scientific_Proof_of_Our_Unalienable_Rights
A market economy is embedded in society. It is subject to ethical considerations, the understanding what is good and what is not good. So the questions " Are example, can I "buy" an academic degree? Can I buy "a position" in the government? Can I buy an Olympics gold medal?" are relating to the market-economy, but to a society where such economy is embedded in.
A market economy is a theoretical concept. It is value-neutral. Each society interprets how the market economy will function within the constraints of its history, social and cultural norms and institutions. One would argue that the question of good and evil is within the boundaries of the society, and cannot be attributed to the “market mechanism”.
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