Discourse Ethics for Debt Markets

This paper develops a pragmatic theory of finance where in markets are considered to be centres of communicative action in the face of uncertainty. This contrasts with the conventional approach in economics that portrays markets as centres of strategic action in the face of scarcity. Our approach entails that markets must address the truthfulness, truth and rightness of the statements -- the prices quoted -- of its traders. This paper focuses on the debt markets and along with reciprocity examines and how subjective truthfulness claims are governed by the norm of sincerity, while social rightness claims are determined by the norm charity. The paper seeks to address crisis of legitimacy that the financial system, exemplified by that manifested in the U.K and U.S., is experiencing and finishes by observing that `trust' in commerce is a synthesis of the three norms.