Just and Unjust Macro-economic Policy

Abstract

Let me start by congratulating you on the existence of this group. Anything remotely connected to morality seems to be notably absent from neoclassical economics, as used by most academics and public servants, today. If one denies the possibility of intercomparisons of utility it is difficult to go past discussing the probable consequences of actions, to a consideration of whether those consequences are moral or even fair. In any case most neo-classical economists seem to be seized with a desire to make economics a positive science like physics. So instead of considering whether the consequences of economic policy actions are desirable from some moral point of view they concentrate on whether they are efficient and hide behind the concept of Pareto-optimum. A situation is said to be Pareto-optimum if no one can be made better off without making at least one person worse off.