Economics and Morality

I've written at length about neoclassical economists' faith in the market and their correlative tendency to see any market failure as human failure. Specifically, I've argued that when markets fail, neoclassical economists' unshakable faith in markets manifests itself as superstitious moralizing, wherein depressions are akin to Biblical calamities that smite the wicked and reward the virtuous. How this generally gets presented by economists is through the maxim that: "Economics is not a morality play." I continued with that language.

However, it's more accurate to say that neoclassical economists' faith in the markets isn't a form of "moralizing," it's a form of Utopianism. Neoclassical economists have an unshakable faith in markets. Notions of faith naturally invite religious and therefore, moral comparison. Certainly, rigid Utopianism or faith-based economic theories of any kind should be rejected, but the more I think about it, the more that I think it's incorrect to suggest "economics is not a morality play."

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice asks one question and one question only: How are the goods of society to be distributed? And this question is hardly new to Rawls, the question of distributive justice has been confronted by all of the major political philosophers. In fact, morality is so embedded in economics that the language of economics is largely moral. Debt, obligation, forgiveness, redemption - it's difficult to even imagine more morally charged terms.

At first I thought the moral questions and the economic questions could be teased apart. And perhaps they can - but, as it stands now, economists make many assumptions that have grave moral consequences often without even realizing they're making such choices. Should we prioritize debt reduction over employment? Should a debt be forgiven or must it be honored? The answer to these questions are moral, political and economic. But economists often answer these questions without considering the moral and/or political import.

Bottom line, economists are making assumptions that have profound moral implications. In fact, they are confronting the biggest moral questions of our time. And it doesn't help for us or them to brush these considerations aside.

Cross-posted at Daily Kos.