The Ethics of the Market synthesises the work of a number of liberal and libertarian scholars into a positive account of the ethics of the market. John Meadowcroft argues that only a market economy is compatible with the principle of individual self-ownership, central to a free society, that the prosperity achieved by the market enables more needs to be met from a given set of resources than in any comparable economic system, and that if we wish to help other people, of whom we have no direct personal knowledge, the most efficacious way to do so is by responding to the price signals generated by the market. The author addresses objections to this thesis that concern 'social justice', the moral prerequisites of a market economy, the nature of the needs that the market satisfies, the cultural impact of the market and the impact of the market on human well-being.