Selfish utilitarianism, neo-classical economics, the directive of short-term income maximization, and the decision tool of cost-benefit analysis fail to protect our species from the significant risks of too much consumption, pollution, or population. For a longer-term survival, humanity needs to...

Most contemporary moral defenses of capitalism rely on ideas drawn from the modern philosophic tradition that emerged in the 17th-18th centuries. Almost always, advocates of a free market society have either invoked the notion of a social contract, a theory of natural rights, the insistence that...

This is an early portion of a forthcoming work of practical moral philosophy, one arguing that humanity, as a species, should want to survive. This particular piece argues that neo-classical economics places an emphasis on short-term gain over precaution and in doing so places lives of...

How should we make interpersonal comparisons of well-being levels and differences? One branch of welfare economics eschews such comparisons, which are seen as impossible or unknowable; normative evaluation is based upon criteria such as Pareto or Kaldor-Hicks efficiency that require no...

An ongoing debate has centered on whether redistribution should be attained solely through taxes and transfer payments, or also via the private law. The most powerful argument against redistribution through private law is grounded on economic considerations. Accordingly, legal rules are more...

After World War II the continent of Europe was devastated both structurally and economically by the war. George C. Marshall is the man who can be considered the father of outsourcing and foreign aid, because of his military skills and training he was able to devise a foreign policy plan as an...

Economists are political philosophers. This claim is defended based on an investigation of normative arguments made in economics textbooks. The paper aims to explain, reconstruct and contest the neoclassical vision implicit in mainstream economic trade theory. Analyzing arguments made by...

"Men more easily renounce their interests than their tastes." (Rochefoucauld) Consistency and constancy are hallmarks of Odysseus' behavior with respect to the Sirens. The usual reading is that he is a general model of the way all self-control situations should be handled. The alternative...

The object of all economic enquiry is the human person under the aspect of behaviour within limited resources. Consequently the truth of any economic theory ultimately hinges on the truth of its philosophy of man. This essay analyses modern economic thought from two perspectives: firstly, from...

The transition from socialist to market economics is typically informed by outcomes-based social welfare theory (SWT). Institutionless, intentionally value-free SWT is ill-suited to this enterprise. The only evaluative standard to which it gives rise--efficiency--is indeterminate, and the theory...