Book contents
- Seven Deadly Economic Sins
- Seven Deadly Economic Sins
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Wealth Is Positive-Sum
- 2 Good Is Not Good Enough
- 3 There Is No Great Mind
- 4 Progress Is Not Inevitable
- 5 Economics and/or Morality
- 6 Equality of What?
- 7 Markets Are Not Perfect
- Conclusion
- Postscript
- References and Further Reading
- Acknowledgments
- Index
5 - Economics and/or Morality
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 April 2021
- Seven Deadly Economic Sins
- Seven Deadly Economic Sins
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Wealth Is Positive-Sum
- 2 Good Is Not Good Enough
- 3 There Is No Great Mind
- 4 Progress Is Not Inevitable
- 5 Economics and/or Morality
- 6 Equality of What?
- 7 Markets Are Not Perfect
- Conclusion
- Postscript
- References and Further Reading
- Acknowledgments
- Index
Summary
Economic calculation and cost–benefit analyses can seem cold and even cruel, possibly valuing “profits over people,” as opposed to the other way around. When a company lays off some of its workers while giving its CEO a bonus, it can seem that the company is placing a higher value on an ignominious goal – profit motivated by greed – than it places on what should matter more – the people involved. If economic calculation is about nothing other than searching for ever more efficient ways to allocate resources, and if firms allocate resources based on nothing more than impersonal cost–benefit analyses, then it can seem to discount the value of human beings, and their wishes, desires, goals, and welfare.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Seven Deadly Economic SinsObstacles to Prosperity and Happiness Every Citizen Should Know, pp. 146 - 186Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021