Book Review : Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale by Debra Satz

What is wrong with selling a kidney for some extra cash or putting a price on a woman’s sexual services? Is it unethical to let children work or allow couples to hire a surrogate to carry their child? The rapid evolution of an expansive market system brings with it questions about the appropriate parameters of such a structure. Ought we restrict markets? In her new book Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale, Debra Satz considers the ethical limitations of markets, and she looks closely at potential intuitive defenses of the sale of controversial products such as child labor, organs, reproductive services, and more.1 At the heart of Satz’s book is a critique of both contemporary economists and egalitarian political philosophers. Labeling them heterogeneous and unequal, Satz argues that markets should be treated asymmetrically.2 A market in life-saving medicines differs from a market in bananas, and therefore they should not be treated alike. While contemporary economists tend to evaluate exchanges based only on efficiency, Satz considers the social context of individual practices and preferences. Satz also criti-