In Brief: Building a Moral Economy: Pathways for People of Courage

Reviewed by Tom Head

November 1, 2025

By Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda. Fortress Press, 2024. 374 pages. $35/paperback; $32.99/eBook.

People who think our economy is very healthy will probably not like this book. The author focuses on things that are not working well economically: climate change, poverty, inequality, and racism. She offers multiple solutions, and emphasizes the many ways they relate to spiritual matters. A professor of theological and social ethics, Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda has come to “see economic life as a spiritual practice, a way of either enacting a spirituality of neighbor-love or betraying it.”

We are living in a time when the economy works for some and does not work for many others, and because of climate change, future generations will probably have a much harder time surviving economically. Moe-Lobeda emphasizes the sacredness of planet Earth and weaves this idea into the actions we should take to faithfully honor Spirit and creation.

The book is divided into four sections. The first two evaluate our problems and lay out cures for them. The last section focuses on the connection between the economy and morality. The third and somewhat unusual section, “Fingers on the Hands of Healing,” has ten chapters, each making a suggestion for the correction of wrongs. Friends will be familiar with much on her list: “Live Lightly” (simplicity), “Move the Money” (divestment), “Resist the Wrong” (civil disobedience), “Drink the Spirit’s Courage” (the nourishment of worship). Much like the fingers on a human hand, one action “alone does not accomplish much. Yet what magnificent creations they render when dancing in collaboration.”

If I were still teaching at a university, I think I might build a seminar around Moe-Lobeda’s book, which is also the introductory title in a new series from Fortress Press edited by Moe-Lobeda. Five more books will consider climate justice, housing, water, food, and the religious roots of a moral economy. There is a website with more details at buildingamoraleconomy.org.

I would highly recommend this book to Friends looking for guidance, inspiration, and practical steps on how to reshape our economy to morally support all life on Earth.

Tom Head is a member of Chico (Calif.) Meeting and professor of economics emeritus at George Fox University