ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on ethical issues involving the distribution of income resulting from economic activity. Asserting that a just economy must involve caring for others resists the traditional distinction in moral philosophy between charity and justice. The ethical duty of governments in creating and enforcing these policies is to be fair and caring. When there is an economic disaster, caring that only provides immediate assistance is not sufficient as an ethical response. Current economic theory holds that the marketplace provides the most efficient way both to allocate the resources required to produce goods and services and to distribute the income derived from this economic activity. The economy is not a natural phenomenon like gravity, but instead is a human activity involving government policies as well as corporate practices and individual initiatives. Similar loans for agricultural development in developing countries led to a greater supply of commodities in the 1980s and pushed down prices.
