Judging economic systems

'Of any economic system we must ask: Does it enhance human dignity? Does it create self respect? Does it encourage creativity? Does it allow everyone to participate in the material blessings of this created world? Does it sustain a climate of equal regard - for employees as well as employers, the poor no less than the rich?  Does it protect the vulnerable and help those in need to escape the trap of need?  Does it ensure that no one lacks the means for a dignified existence? Do those who succeed share their blessings with those who have less?  Does the economic system strengthen the bonds of human solidarity? And does it know its own limits - does it recognize that its values are not the only values, that there is more to life than a perpetual striving after wealth, that the market is not the only mechanism of distribution, and that an economic system is a means not an end?'

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks