--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No market economy can function properly…" description: "\"“No market economy can function properly without the support of legal and moral sanctions, designed to hold individual agents to their bargains, and to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/roger-scruton-971_economics_no-market-economy-can-function-properly_2362981.jpg" --- # No market economy can function properly without the… ![“No market economy can function properly without the support of legal and moral sanctions, designed to hold individual agents to their bargains, and to return the cost of misbehaviour to the one who causes it. But” quote by Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/roger-scruton-971_economics_no-market-economy-can-function-properly_2362981.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/roger-scruton-971_economics_no-market-economy-can-function-properly_2362981.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/roger-scruton-971_economics_no-market-economy-can-function-properly_2362981.jpg) > ““No market economy can function properly without the support of legal and moral sanctions, designed to hold individual agents to their bargains, and to return the cost of misbehaviour to the one who causes it. But”” [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A functional market needs legal and moral rules to enforce contracts and punish wrongdoing, ensuring fairness and accountability. **In simple terms:** Markets need rules to keep promises and punish bad behavior. Key Takeaway Support and enforce ethical standards in commerce. Themes law morality economics contractual social contract justice regulation Mood serious analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - business negotiations - government policy - consumer protection - corporate governance Key Concepts property rights trust accountability Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance enforcement with freedom? - What mechanisms best deter misconduct without excess? A Different Perspective Enforcement can be uneven, and over‑regulation may stifle innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agents Bargains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agents-bargains-5792988/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Legal Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legal-moral-1988662/) [Market economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/market-economy/) [Moral Sanctions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-sanctions-2643878/) [Sanctions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanctions/) [Sanctions Designed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanctions-designed-5792987/) ## Related quotes > [It is impossible to maintain freedom and order and justice without religious and moral sanctions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/it-is-impossible-to-maintain-freedom-and-order-and-justice-without/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [The issue of prohibiting pardons shouldn't be a political one, but a legal and moral one that relates to the details of the specific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayelet-shaked/the-issue-of-prohibiting-pardons-shouldn-t-be-a-political-one-but-a/) [Ayelet Shaked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayelet-shaked/) > [All my businesses are scrupulously legal. Not because I have any moral problems with crime. It just makes my life easier to obey the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-lieb/all-my-businesses-are-scrupulously-legal-not-because-i-have-any-moral/) [Josh Lieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-lieb/) > [“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/one-has-not-only-a-legal-but-a-moral-responsibility-to-obey-just-laws-2/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [We are easily deceived about government because we are inclined to accept the following fallacies: (a) Anything legal is also moral. (b) We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-verlan-andersen/we-are-easily-deceived-about-government-because-we-are-inclined-to/) [H. Verlan Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-verlan-andersen/) > [We have a legal and moral obligation to rid our world of nuclear tests and nuclear weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/we-have-a-legal-and-moral-obligation-to-rid-our-world-of-nuclear-2/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [Money is so unlike every other article that I believe a man has neither a legal or a moral right to take all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-cooper/money-is-so-unlike-every-other-article-that-i-believe-a-man-has/) [Peter Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-cooper/) > [Tsars and slaves, the intelligent and the obtuse, publicans and pharisees all have an identical legal and moral right to honor the memory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/tsars-and-slaves-the-intelligent-and-the-obtuse-publicans-and/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/one-has-not-only-a-legal-but-a-moral-responsibility-to-obey-just-laws/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Sanctions make a substantial contribution to power based on privation, and they have never hurt a single despot in the whole history of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/sanctions-make-a-substantial-contribution-to-power-based-on-privation/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“Liberal” in the nineteenth-century United States and Europe designated people who in many, but not all, respects would be called conservatives in the twenty-first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-white/liberal-in-the-nineteenth-century-united-states-and-europe-designated/) [Richard White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-white/) > [No one spends someone elses money as carefully as he spends his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-skousen/no-one-spends-someone-elses-money-as-carefully-as-he-spends-his-own/) [Mark Skousen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-skousen/) > [“China has undergone an enormous transformation. But because the political system remains unchanged, the great changes in the economic and social sphere have resulted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yang-jisheng/china-has-undergone-an-enormous-transformation-but-because-the/) [Yang Jisheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yang-jisheng/) > [There is no kind of freedom and liberty other than the kind which the market economy brings about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/there-is-no-kind-of-freedom-and-liberty-other-than-the-kind-which-the/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Mexico is a market economy, but we should have better markets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-videgaray-caso/mexico-is-a-market-economy-but-we-should-have-better-markets/) [Luis Videgaray Caso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-videgaray-caso/) ## More by Roger Scruton > [Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it does not matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/beauty-is-vanishing-from-our-world-because-we-live-as-though-it-does/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“So conceived, the English police force served to emphasize a fundamental truth about the English law, which is that it exists not to control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/so-conceived-the-english-police-force-served-to-emphasize-a/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [My 2018 ended with a hate storm, in response to my appointment as chair of the government's Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/my-2018-ended-with-a-hate-storm-in-response-to-my-appointment-as/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [I've never been an optimist, but that's fine because pessimists have the possibility of being agreeably surprised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/i-ve-never-been-an-optimist-but-that-s-fine-because-pessimists-have/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Unlike every other product that is now manufactured for the table, wine exists in as many varieties as there are people who produce it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/unlike-every-other-product-that-is-now-manufactured-for-the-table/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [The abstract, unreal freedom of the liberal intellect was really nothing more than childish disobedience, amplified into anarchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/the-abstract-unreal-freedom-of-the-liberal-intellect-was-really/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“I think we can all see the force of the idea that there are certain things that cannot be done to human beings –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/i-think-we-can-all-see-the-force-of-the-idea-that-there-are-certain/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [When art becomes merely shock value, our sense of humanity is slowly degraded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/when-art-becomes-merely-shock-value-our-sense-of-humanity-is-slowly/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“Western democracies did not create the virtue of citizenship; on the contrary, they grew from it. Nothing is more evident in The Federalist than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/western-democracies-did-not-create-the-virtue-of-citizenship-on-the/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“If one looks back to the French Revolution, one sees just how easy it is for the doctrine of “human rights” to become an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/if-one-looks-back-to-the-french-revolution-one-sees-just-how-easy-it/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“I say it was immediately apparent, but it was not apparent to the intellectual class, which has remained largely wedded to the post-war consensus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/i-say-it-was-immediately-apparent-but-it-was-not-apparent-to-the/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Conservatives hold on to things not only because they are attached to them, but also because they do not see the sense in radical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/conservatives-hold-on-to-things-not-only-because-they-are-attached-to/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“Academic philosophers in the English speaking world still regard philosophy as Locke defined it in the 17th century, as “the handmaiden of the sciences”:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/academic-philosophers-in-the-english-speaking-world-still-regard/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Delia Smith is, actually, my bete noire. I consider her a most pernicious influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/delia-smith-is-actually-my-bete-noire-i-consider-her-a-most/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Modern art was born from a desire to destroy kitsch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/modern-art-was-born-from-a-desire-to-destroy-kitsch/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) [Explore all 317 Roger Scruton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) ## More Economics quotes > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. It is open markets, it is capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/don-t-let-s-lose-sight-of-what-creates-wealth-it-is-open-markets-it/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [Our biggest challenge is to eliminate the popular perception that economists don't have anything useful to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zandi/our-biggest-challenge-is-to-eliminate-the-popular-perception-that/) [Mark Zandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zandi/) > [Advances in technology will continue to reach far into every sector of our economy. Future job and economic growth in industry, defense, transportation, agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bond/advances-in-technology-will-continue-to-reach-far-into-every-sector/) [Christopher Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bond/) > [Our engagement through international economics, trade, these trade agreements, is vital and is linked to our national security. This is a lesson we learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-boustany/our-engagement-through-international-economics-trade-these-trade/) [Charles Boustany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-boustany/) > [“The free-market economy and globalisation process have brought about, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, a sharp and sudden rise in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yaakov-malkin/the-free-market-economy-and-globalisation-process-have-brought-about/) [Yaakov Malkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yaakov-malkin/) > [“Everything economic science posits as given, that is, the range of dispositions of the economic agent which ground the illusion of the ahistorical universality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bourdieu/everything-economic-science-posits-as-given-that-is-the-range-of/) [Pierre Bourdieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bourdieu/) > [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/) [Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/) > [Having an economy that works for the 99% is achievable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winnie-byanyima/having-an-economy-that-works-for-the-99-is-achievable/) [Winnie Byanyima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winnie-byanyima/) > [“a select group of high-performing companies have managed to close the strategy-to-performance gap through better planning and execution. These companies—Barclays, Cisco Systems, Dow Chemical,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mankins/a-select-group-of-high-performing-companies-have-managed-to-close-the/) [Michael C. Mankins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mankins/) > [The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-system-of-private-property-is-the-most-important-guaranty-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Economists think about what people ought to do. Psychologists watch what they actually do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/economists-think-about-what-people-ought-to-do-psychologists-watch/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“Economists have a singular method of procedure. There are only two kinds of institutions for them, artificial and natural. The institutions of feudalism are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/economists-have-a-singular-method-of-procedure-there-are-only-two/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [As the variable capital always stays in the hands of the capitalist in some form or other, it cannot be claimed in any way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-the-variable-capital-always-stays-in-the-hands-of-the-capitalist/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) [Browse all 7,788 Economics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“No market economy can function properly without the support of legal and moral sanctions, designed to hold individual agents to their bargains, and to return the cost of misbehaviour to the one who causes it. But”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roger Scruton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/no-market-economy-can-function-properly-without-the-support-of-legal/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Economics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/no-market-economy-can-function-properly-without-the-support-of-legal/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/roger-scruton-971_economics_no-market-economy-can-function-properly_2362981.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/roger-scruton-971_economics_no-market-economy-can-function-properly_2362981.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/roger-scruton-971_economics_no-market-economy-can-function-properly_2362981.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No market economy can function properly without the support of legal and moral sanctions, designed to hold…” — Roger Scruton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Roger Scruton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“No market economy can function properly...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/no-market-economy-can-function-properly-without-the-support-of-legal/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/no-market-economy-can-function-properly-without-the-support-of-legal/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```