The Occupy Wall Street protesters have prompted me to think about the marketplace.

Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” highlighted the importance of self-interest as an “engine” of economic activity. It was not the benevolence of the baker, said Smith, that produced bread for consumption by those who needed it; it was the self-interest of the baker, who earned his living by producing bread for others to buy.

Christian theology recognizes original sin, the disobedience of Adam and Eve, our first parents, as a fact. As a result of original sin, we possess what we call a “fallen” human nature. We are, because we have inherited the effects of the sin of our first parents, selfish and self-centered, not naturally inclined to be considerate of and generous toward others.

Christians believe that the inherited guilt of that sin has been removed by the Sacrament of Baptism; but the inherited effects – selfishness and self-centeredness as characteristics of a fallen human nature – remain.

To live a good and virtuous life, Christians see a need for self-discipline and self-control. They bring to the marketplace a commitment to both business ethics and social responsibility. They do not believe that the unfettered free play of market forces is desirable, but that personal and social control is necessary.

The free market is, in the Christian perspective, a reasonable accommodation to the self-interested condition of fallen human nature.

In theory, the free market represents “perfect competition,” and has a vast number of sellers and buyers on either side of the market.

The theory also assumes that sellers and buyers have “perfect” information. Consequently, according to the theory, market prices will be fair and as low as possible. Both efficiency and economy are achieved. The right and fair price will clear the market.

In the real world, however, there are not an infinite number of sellers and buyers; nor is there perfect information. The modern economy typically sees monopoly and oligopoly in markets that can only be called “competitive” because they are regulated by government oversight and control.

The purpose of government regulation is to “maintain competition” in the sense of assuring that the market price be close to the price that would have prevailed had there been conditions of perfect competition (i.e., many buyers and sellers and perfect information) in the marketplace.

Thus, fallen human nature’s tendency toward greed, acquisitiveness and other excesses of self-interest can be held in check.

In the real world, advertising is a major industry precisely because free and full information is not available to all. Moreover, not just information (presumably accurate) but persuasion (often exaggerated) is brought into the market by the advertisers.

Hence, “truth in advertising” is an ethical requirement that advertisers must impose on themselves as well as an objective that is subject to government oversight and regulation.

All of the above is part of a Christian perspective on the marketplace. It is realistic, not idealistic. It acknowledges fallen human nature for what it is and it respects redeemed and graced human nature for what it is capable of becoming through the acquisition and practice of virtue.

In the Christian perspective, justice is the virtue that must prevail in the marketplace. And trust is the virtue that makes interaction in the marketplace possible.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam all preach love. Surely, the world would be a far better place if followers of these three monotheistic Abrahamic religions really loved one another. Such love can be a foundation for the justice and trust that are needed to meet the ethical challenges confronting us in today’s world economy.

Jesuit Father Byron is university professor of business and society at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. Email: [email protected]