fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Fighting The Sophisters, Economists and Calculators

The economist takes no account of the nature of economic goods, any more than of free goods.  Wealth and poverty, the optimum and the rational, growth and national product, standard of living and utility have nothing to do with what is beyond the world of the market.  But the GNP cannot account for the services […]

The economist takes no account of the nature of economic goods, any more than of free goods.  Wealth and poverty, the optimum and the rational, growth and national product, standard of living and utility have nothing to do with what is beyond the world of the market.  But the GNP cannot account for the services furnished by mothers to their families–“your remark is beside the point, since these are nonmarket services.”  Consider another example: what if ugliness and boredom increase with productivity–“I do not deal with such matters.”  Or what if too much economic rationality undoes social bonds and isolates human ebings–“Why do you persist?  I tell you that this is none of my affair.”  But what if the gap widens between what is good economically and what is good for humans as humans–“I choose not to answer you.” ~Philippe Beneton, Equality By Default 

Advertisement

Comments

The American Conservative Memberships
Become a Member today for a growing stake in the conservative movement.
Join here!
Join here