The Skeptical Economist: Revealing the Ethics Inside Economics [Hardcover]

Economics is unavoidably central to any attempt to improve our quality of life, but most people do not know why, or how to question its underlying assumptions. The Skeptical Economist rejects the story told by other popular economics books. Responding to Western malaise about quality of life, and a growing curiosity about economics and its relevance to these concerns, Jonathan Aldred argues that economics is not an agreed body of knowledge or an objective science. In reality economics is built on ethical foundations - distinctive and controversial views about how we ought to live, what we value and why. This revealing and entertaining book exposes these hidden assumptions, and opens up the black box of modern economics to reveal that conventional wisdom is not what it appears to be. The Skeptical Economist will challenge us all to examine the assumptions behind the economics of our current way of life. It rediscovers the ethics at the heart of economics.Acknowledgements  1. Introduction: Ethical Economics?  2. The Sovereign Consumer  3. Two Myths about Economic Growth  4. The Politics of Pay  5. Happiness  6. Pricing Life and Nature  7. New Worlds of Money: Public Services and Beyond  8. ConclusionEconomics is unavoidably central to any attempt to improve our quality of life, but most people do not know why, or how to question its underlying assumptions. The Skeptical Economist rejects the story told by other popular economics books.Dr Jonathan Aldred is a Fellow and Director of Studies in Economics at Emmanuel College and a Newton Trust Lecturer in the Department of Land Economy, both in the University of Cambridge, UK. An economist by training, his research interests are now interdisciplinary, spanning economics, philosophy, law and political theory.

'Aldred has written a well-organized and easily accessible text with an admirablel#0