Ver Eecke Ethical Dimensions of the Economy

Making Use of Hegel and the Concepts of Public and Merit Goods
1. Auflage 2008
ISBN: 978-3-540-77111-1
Verlag: Springer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 304 Seiten, Web PDF

Reihe: Economics and Finance (R0)

Overview This book is a philosophical reflection (using mainly Hegel, in addition to 1 Adam Smith, Kant, Marx and Catholic Social Thought) about the soc- political dimension of economics. In it I both agree and disagree with the slogan that “the least government is the best government. ” I agree with the slogan, in particular as it applies to the economic domain. Adam Smith taught us that rational and self-interested individuals, left by themselves, create a more efficient and reliable economic system than one in which the government has a heavy role as was the case in his time with the merc- tile system (Smith, 14, 651). Ludwig von Mises demonstrated the same idea for the communist command economy (Hayek 1935, 87–130). I d- agree with the above mentioned slogan if it is interpreted as suggesting that we can best forget about the role of the government for a good functioning economy. Instead, I will argue that the government has an important fu- tion in creating the proper regulations and the wise institutional arran- ments which will allow the economy to flourish in a more efficient, fair and humane way. This book is interdisciplinary in nature. It is a philosophical and ethical reflection on economics. Hence, I make use of philosophical ideas, often but not exclusively those of Hegel. I reflect philosophically on economic concepts.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ver Eecke, Wilfried

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Normative Reflections on the Economy.- The Interconnection of Moral and Economic Theory.- Economics and Politics in the Architectonic of Hegel’s Thought.- The Ethical Function of the Economy.- The Economic Order: A Human, Not a Natural Institution.- The Concept of “Merit Good” and the History of Economic Thought.- Objecting to a Libertarian Attack on Governmental Functions in the Economy: The Concept of “Public Good”.- Applications.- Structural Deficiencies in the American System.- Unjust Redistribution in the American System.- The Role of Religion and Civil Society in a Transformed Command Economy.- Overlapping Ideas: Catholic Social Thought and Recent Nobel Laureates in Economics.- Conclusion.