Michael Blastland
speaker
745 appearances
4 recordings
1 series
first heard Mar 2011
last heard Aug 2011
Michael Blastland’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
And for a long time, the idea that economics and morality were chicken and egg seems to have stuck.
Time then to meet Adam Smith, the great 19th century economist, he of the invisible hand of the market, with help from another historian, Mary Morgan.
Yes, completely disdainful.
So, Adam Smith, pin-up of the free market, a moraliser?
Seems so.
But now I'm puzzled.
Economic life was a civilising force for trust, a moral virtue.
Economic theory also started and continued moral.
And people have deep moral instincts that they bring to economic life.
Morality all over the place.
So, since we didn't discover greed this century or any other...
What happened?
Positive economics is about how does the world work, and normative economics is about how it should work.
The argument is that economists aren't qualified as economists in their role as economists to make political judgments or judgments about values or the ends of economic activity.
Is that it?
The parting of the ways?
Generations of economic students grown up, intellectually divorced?
Though I guess the rationale sounds logical enough.
First, find out what the economy and economic behaviour is.
Then, presumably, add your moral objective.
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