Article
What's Wrong with Economics? It Ignores the Pogo Principle: "We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us"
The Journal of the History of Economic Thought
(2011)
Abstract
The piece begins with the proposition that the economic perspective on human activity must reflect the fact that human beings transact in a world defined for the actors by social norms. An analysis of the crisis of 2008 is offered as a demonstration of the value of adopting such a broader perspective. Part two offers a historical model based on Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy of such a broader analysis. The piece closes with the case that the history of ideas offers alternative perspectives on the questions we explore in economics today and thus can serve as a valuable resource for constructive skepticism of the current discourse.
Keywords
- Social Norms,
- Ethics,
- Adam Smith,
- Crisis,
- Recession,
- History,
- Distribution
Disciplines
Publication Date
June 21, 2011
Citation Information
Jerry M Evensky. "What's Wrong with Economics? It Ignores the Pogo Principle: "We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us"" The Journal of the History of Economic Thought (2011) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jerry_eversky/2/