The common good and economics

Ricardo Crespo

Cuadernos de Economía - Spanish Journal of Economics and Finance, 2016, vol. 39, issue 109, 23-33

Abstract: This paper analyzes the meaning of the ‘common good’ and its impact on economics. It adopts the ‘classical notion of the common good’ which, conceived by Aristotle and further developed by Thomas Aquinas, has been widely used for centuries. Sections 2 and 3 introduce Aristotle's view on this notion, followed by Aquinas’ developments. Section 4 addresses the different meanings of common good in the 20th century. Given that the classical version of the common good implies an anthropological position and a theory of the good, Section 5 extracts them from Aristotle's works, while Section 6 deduces policy implications from the previous definitions. Finally, Section 7 analyzes two current economic theories from the point of view of their relation with the common good: economics of happiness and the capability approach. The final section presents a brief conclusion.

Keywords: Common good; Happiness economics; Capability approach (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A10 A13 B59 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cud:journl:v:39:y:2016:i:109:p:23-33

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