Economic analysis, moral philosophy, and public policy
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Bibliographic Information
Economic analysis, moral philosophy, and public policy
Cambridge University Press, 2017
3rd ed
- : hardback
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 361-384) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book shows through argument and numerous policy-related examples how understanding moral philosophy can improve economic analysis, how moral philosophy can benefit from economists' analytical tools, and how economic analysis and moral philosophy together can inform public policy. Part I explores the idea of rationality and its connections to ethics, arguing that when they defend their formal model of rationality, most economists implicitly espouse contestable moral principles. Part II addresses the nature and measurement of welfare, utilitarianism and cost-benefit analysis. Part III discusses freedom, rights, equality, and justice - moral notions that are relevant to evaluating policies, but which have played little if any role in conventional welfare economics. Finally, Part IV explores work in social choice theory and game theory that is relevant to moral decision making. Each chapter includes recommended reading and discussion questions.
Table of Contents
- 1. Ethics and economics?
- 2. Ethics in welfare economics
- 3. Ethics in positive economics: two examples
- Part I. Rationality, Morality, and Markets: 4. Rationality and utility theory
- 5. Rationality and morality in positive economics
- 6. The ethical limits to markets
- Part II. Welfare and Consequences: 7. Utilitarianism, consequentialism, and justice
- 8. Welfare
- 9. Welfare economics
- Part III. Liberty, Rights, Equality and Justice: 10. Liberty, rights and libertarianism
- 11. Equality and egalitarianism
- 12. Justice and contractualism
- Part IV. Moral Mathematics: 13. Social choice theory
- 14. Game theory
- Conclusions: 15. Putting economics and ethics to work
- 16. Economics and ethics, hand in hand
- Appendix.
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