Culture and the Wealth of Nations

W ho are the inhabitants of the marketplace? Are they the spiritless, calculating robots depicted in so much economic theory? Or are they the heartless money-grubbing corporate executives depicted in television and film who assume that theft, murder, and environmental degradation are all part of good business? In mainstream economic theory, the market is presented almost as a dead place in which economic actors are more machines than human beings. In popular culture, businesspeople are indeed more lifelike, but they usually take on only the base and evil qualities humans possess. What we would like to offer is an alternative view, one in which markets are seen as an integral part of human culture. As part of our culture, the market is an arena in which human beings can create meaning in their lives and express their spirit. In order to understand the market as an animated sphere of human engagement, we must take seriously the role culture plays in the economy. We aim to do this by exploring the concept of "culture" in its fullest sense—as the framework of shared meaning for a people. This concept of culture thus includes traditional beliefs and customary practices; the so-called high arts such as literature, painting, dance, and opera; and all the elements of popular culture, including soap operas, M-TV videos, dime store novels, and blockbuster movies. We take all of those elements of culture seriously because all play an important role in how markets develop, how they are perceived, and how people choose to express themselves as participants in the market process.