Sandel argues that we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society and examines one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society, and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets do not honor and money cannot buy?

Introduction : markets and morals. Market triumphalism ; Everything for sale ; The role of markets ; Our rancorous politics -- 1. Jumping the queue. Airports, amusement parks, car pool lanes ; Hired line standers ; Ticket scalpers ; Concierge doctors ; Markets versus queues ; Yosemite campsites ; Papal masses ; Springsteen concerts -- 2. Incentives. Cash for sterilization ; The economic approach to life ; Paying kids for good grades ; Bribes to lose weight ; Selling the right to immigrate ; A market in refugees ; Speeding tickets and subway cheats ; Tradable procreation permits ; Tradable pollution permits ; Carbon offsets ; Paying to kill an endangered rhino ; Ethics and economics -- 3. How markets crowd out morals. Hired friends ; Bought apologies and wedding toasts ; The case against gifts ; Auctioning college admission Coercion and corruption ; Nuclear waste sites ; Donation days and day-care pickups ; Blood for sale ; Economizing love -- 4. Markets in life and death. Janitors insurance ; Betting on death ; Internet death pools ; Insurance versus gambling ; The terrorism futures market ; The lives of strangers ; Death bonds -- 5. Naming rights. Autographs for sale ; Corporate-sponsored home runs ; Luxury skyboxes ; Moneyball ; Bathroom advertising ; Ads in books ; Body billboards ; Branding the public square ; Branded lifeguards and nature trails ; Police cars and fire hydrants ; Commercials in the classroom ; Ads in jail ; The skyboxification of everyday life.