Wilfred Beckerman
Economics as Applied EthicsFact and Value in Economic Policy2nd ed. 2017
Wilfred Beckerman
University College London, London,
United Kingdom
ISBN 978-3-319-50318-9e-ISBN 978-3-319-50319-6
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Preface
This is a substantially revised version of the
first edition. Some of the chapters have been largely rewritten,
notably the chapters on ‘happiness’, the valuation of life and the
problem of equality. In addition, Chapter 1 of the first edition has
been scrapped and substantial changes have been made to all the
opening chapters in order to bring out more clearly the main theme
of this book. This is an attempt to provide a simple method for
analysing any problem in economic policy. The method is basically a
distinction between what parts of the problem are questions of fact
and what parts are questions of value judgement.
Consequently, after an initial explanation of the
basic concepts involved, the rest of the book comprises a
discussion of the way that this distinction crops up in the
analysis of applied economic problems. This begins with a general
explanation of the role of facts and value judgements in the
general theory of welfare economics, and is followed by the
application of this distinction to some major contemporary economic
problems, such as equality or obligations to other countries or
future generations.
Thus I make no attempt to provide a general
survey of ethics in economics, on which there are already several
excellent texts available. Instead I focus on trying to provide a
practical key to the analysis of economic policy issues. I believe
that this key – namely the separation of questions of fact from
questions of value – is one that can also be used profitably to
unlock the complexities of non-economic problems as well. But that
is another matter. All that I try to do is to bring out into the
open the value judgements hidden away in the general theory of
welfare economics and in the analysis of many economic policy
problems of our time.
Also by
Wilfred Beckerman
The British Economy in 1975 (with
associates) International Comparison of Real Incomes An
Introduction to National Income Analysis In Defence of Economic
Growth (USA edition under title Two Cheers for the Affluent
Society) Measures of Leisure, Equality and Welfare Poverty and the
Impact of Income Maintenance Programmes Growth, the Environment and
the Distribution of Incomes Poverty and Social Security in Britain
since 1961 (with Stephen Clark) Small is Stupid A Poverty of
Reason: Sustainable Development and Economic Growth Justice,
Posterity, and the Environment (with Joanna Pasek)
Acknowledgements
The title of this book has been taken – with his
permission – from the opening remarks made by John Broome at a
public meeting in Oxford in November 2009 that was focused on the
great contributions made by Amartya Sen to our understanding of the
relationship between ethics and economics. As I indicate in
Chapter
1 of this book, in the course of writing it I
drew very heavily on their work as well as that of the late Ian
Little. This does not mean that they would agree with all of what I
say.
I am indebted to my old friend and ex-colleague,
Paul Streeten, who first opened my eyes to the importance of the
link between ethics and economics.
I am also indebted to the many people with whom I
have discussed some of the contents of the book, and to the
following people who have kindly read – and commented on –
individual chapters of the first edition of this book. These are
the late Tony Atkinson, Ken Binmore, John Broome, Roger Crisp,
Nicholas Fahy, James Forder, Sudhir Hazareesingh, the late Ian
Little, Tom Nagel, Joanna Pasek, Adam Swift and Clark Wolf, as well
as to my Balliol colleagues and ex-colleagues, including the late
Bob Hargrave, Kinch Hoekstra, John Latsis and Jessica Moss, for
guidance on many philosophical topics, and to my UCL colleague, Uwe
Peters, for important amendments at a late stage in the drafting of
this book.
I am also greatly indebted to my wife, Joanna
Pasek, with whom I have discussed the topics covered in this book
over many years and who has been a source of patient encouragement
and enlightenment throughout. I am also grateful to the discussion
over the years with her students in the Economics Department at
University College London.
Finally, my greatest debt is to my old friend
Nick Morris. In addition to help with the overall structure of the
book as well as with the statistical material in Chapter 15 , Nick Morris took over
the co-ordination of the team of proof-readers in my family (Debbie
Beckerman, Keith Jones, Beatrice Beckerman, and Agnieszka Pasek),
and then master-minded the whole process of producing a printable
version. Without his help this book might never have seen the light
of day.
In the Acknowledgements to
his recent book, The Idea of
Justice , Amartya Sen lists about 360 people who have
contributed in one way or another to the development of the views
expressed in his book. By comparison, my little list of only about
twenty or so people is rather brief. I am sure that help from 360
people would have made my book better – though probably not as good
as his, of course. But the problem is that I do not even know 360
people! However, such little merit – if any - that my book may have
has to be shared out among only about twenty people, not 360! Of
course, I, alone, take all the blame for its defects.
Contents
Part II
Applications
8
Conclusions 132
1
Introduction 153
6
Conclusions 164
6
Conclusions 182
7
Annex 183
6
Conclusions 238
8
Conclusion 263
Bibliography273
Author
Index287
Subject
Index291
List of Figures
Fig. 3.1 Structure of
economic policy choice27
Fig. 6.1 The
equality–efficiency trade-off: fact or value?57
Fig. 6.2 A choice of
paths to the ultimate policy goal60
Fig. 7.1 A ‘Utility
Possibility Frontier’69
Fig. 7.2 How to
reconcile efficiency with social welfare73
Fig. 7.3 Economic
efficiency versus strong egalitarianism74
Fig. 12.1 Welfare: what
you have and what you would like to have145