Normative Foundations of Introductory Economics

Abstract

According to Robert Solow, the orthodox model “underplays the significance of ethical judgments both in its approach to policy and in its account of individual and organizational behavior.” This paper demonstrates that introductory texts promote, without acknowledgment or debate, the following ethical judgments and value-laden choices are equally meritorious, economic growth is desirable, consumerism, to ignore markets' sometimes coercive nature and the “non-externality” types of harm to third parties, anthropocentrism, the only unequivocal “good” is rearrangements which produce only winners, and to view humans as separate and self-serving entities. These values matter because, as Colander and Landreth write, “The simple textbook models students learn serve as an operating system for their minds … [and the] models limit students' imagination and consideration of alternatives …”