A Comment on “What Is Wrong with the West’s Economies?” by Edmund Phelps

Vesa Kanniainen

Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, 2016, vol. 33, issue 4, No 5, 333-339

Abstract: Abstract Why is it so difficult to make the world a better place? This note claims that “just”, “justice”, and “morality” are scientific issues, not a matter of opinion. David Hume suggested that the moral stance cannot be drawn from empirical facts. Adam Smith recognized that somewhere inside us there is an “impartial spectator” who tells us when we do wrong or when we see wrong to be done. This note welcomes Mr. Phelps to the realm of those great early thinkers though he misses the link to them. We suggest that it is the human evolution which has imbedded the feelings of justice inside us into the chemical and hormonal systems in our body, in our nerve system and in our brains. Here economics, moral philosophy and biology meet each other. It is not the capitalism or the globalization which ought to be blamed. Indeed, it is hard for many to admit but the world indeed has been changing into a better place! What is wrong with the West’s Economies today? Very much is still wrong, indeed. There is too much inequality, too much unjust, and people are unhappy. If there is a battle between the good and the bad, the good guys hopefully win. However, they need a thorough analysis!

Keywords: Just; Justice; Morality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 D64 I32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1007/s41412-016-0019-y

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