Sandel in Central Park
On many warm summer nights in Central Park’s outdoor Delacorte Theater, lyrical lines from William Shakespeare drift above the occasional quack of a duck or hum of a passing plane. The Public Theater presents the beloved, free “Shakespeare in the Park” series. But on Monday evening, snippets from the Bard were accompanied by something else: a spirited public debate led by a Harvard University professor with the searching question, “What are we worth?” A selection of readings from Shakespeare’s plays, touching on topics such as money and morals, was followed by an open-air forum with Michael Sandel, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government. His latest book, “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limit of Markets,” examines the repercussions of the trend toward putting a price tag on just about everything, from palatial yachts to political influence. Sandel, a master at getting people talking, used the same approach he takes...