John Maurice Clark: An Early Classic of Ordo Responsibility

Abstract

John Maurice Clark is an early classic of the concept of “ordo” responsibility. He saw very clearly that the self-interest of the business sector is ill-served if it resists any kind of state regulation. Faced with negative externalities (and even systems failures like bank panics), Clark strongly argued in favor of such regulation and called upon the business sector to take “ordo” responsibility for the political (self-)governance of the rules of their market games. His main message is that taking social responsibility can provide an enabling environment for taking individual responsibility.