Prof James Otteson on how honourable business helps society

Architect of Prosperity was referenced in a new book by James Otteson called “Honourable Business: A framework for business in a just and humane society” (Oxford university Press 2019). James R. Otteson is Professor of Economics and Thomas W. Smith Presidential Chair in Business Ethics at Wake Forest University. He specializes in political economy, business ethics, the history of economic thought, and political philosophy, and he is author of Adam Smith’s Marketplace of Life (2002), Actual Ethics (2006), and The End of Socialism (2014).

In Honorable Business, James R. Otteson argues that business activity can be valuable in itself. The primary purpose of honorable businesses is to create value-for all parties. They look for mutually voluntary and mutually beneficial transactions, so that all sides of any exchange benefit, leading to increasing prosperity not just for one person or for one group at the expense of others but simultaneously for everyone involved. Done correctly, honorable business is a positive-sum activity that can enable flourishing for individuals and prosperity for society.