Conservatism and the Market

Kinneging points out the ambiguous relationship that traditional conservatism has often had with the market: “No conservative will deny that a system of mutual provision of services, based on a range of evil affects residing within man – which are further inflamed by the unrestricted operation of that system – ‘works,’ in the sense that it maximized utility.  Unlike critics from the left, conservatives do not believe that the market fails when measured by its own standard of success: utility maximization.  Conservative criticism is not about whether the market lives up to its promises, but whether the market’s promises are necessarily beneficial.  Desire – or ‘preferences,’ as they are not called – are a fundamental principle of the market that is not open to question in the market philosophy.  To conservatives, on the other hand, desires are the core of the problem.  To be sure, many conservatives are strong advocates of the market economy, beginning with Burke.  But conservatism, unlike many market liberals, are also well aware of the limitations and dangers of the market.”