MARKET NONNEUTRALITY - SYSTEMIC BIAS IN SPONTANEOUS ORDERS

The market is sometimes thought to be a largely neutral means for coor dinating cooperation among strangers under complex conditions because it is, as Hayek noted, a ''spontaneous order'' But in fact the market actively shapes the kinds of values it rewards, as do other spontaneou s orders. Recognizing these biases allows us to see how such orders im pinge on one another and on other communities basic to human life, som etimes negatively. In this way we may come to acknowledge the inevitab ility of placing limits on spontaneous orders.