Virtues Grow Markets, and Markets Grow Virtues

Talk of virtue seems strange in the marketplace. Yet the market provides ample opportunity for people to grow in those habits of character that help them flourish — that is, to help them grow in the virtues. Our revealed preferences expose our vices, and the market disciplines us. (Sloth is not a character trait in high demand in the marketplace, for example.) Conversely, virtues, once acquired, deliver the economic goods. Faith, hope, and love encourage honor, a sense of calling, and social capital; wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance foster thoughtfulness and care; the rule of law and property rights; and daring entrepreneurship along with the self-restraint required to build and maintain wealth to invest in new and established ventures.