Capitalism and the Constitution

The kind of economic order contemplated by the framers of the Constitution is a considerably more subtle and complex question than one might suppose. To be sure, the framers clearly regarded the protection of such rights as a primary purpose of government. The English philosopher John Locke, whose views were familiar to virtually every American of the founding generation, had taught that the ownership of property was a God-given natural right, antecedent to civil society; and the revolution...