The Bahá’í Faith and the Market Economy

Abstract

The eighteenth-century (Scottish) philosophers advanced a powerful economic and moral case for the market economy predicated on the propositions that human beings are naturally endowed with a desire to better their lives and that the pursuit of this goal in the marketplace generally contributes to society’s economic well-being. The present essay traces the intellectual origin of this system and analyzes the roles of self-interest and morality in its operation. We will also analyze this system in the light of Bahá’í teachings and discuss aspects of the market system that the Bahá’í Faith accepts as well as those that it rejects.