Business Ethics And The Austrian Tradition In Economics

Stakeholder value, corporate social responsibility and sustainability: Are these, and similar, concepts sufficiently clear for fruitful research in business ethics? What is the benchmark to prove their utility? Business Ethics and the Austrian Tradition in Economics is a treatise on the fundamental questions of business ethics and addresses significant shortcomings in the field. It is the result of correlating reflections on phenomena, resulting from an intersection of ethics, economics, methodology, and political and social philosophy. Sparked by the business ethicists’ tendency to consider certain areas outside their field and accept others unquestioningly, this book provides answers in the tradition of Austrian Economics and, in particular, of Hayek and Popper. Through detailed examination and reflection, this book presents the thesis that many themes in business ethics are discussed either unduly intensely, unbalanced or rarely, measured against what business ethics as a science should deliver. It does so by offering an answer to one of the most crucial questions in business ethics, namely that of justice in moral economic actions. Bouillon develops an original definition of morally just economic action in the course of three chapters, and subsequently uses it as yardstick, from which, in chapter four, he reads which of the relevant concepts and topics in business ethics ask for restatement. As a side-product Bouillon discloses logical inconsistencies in prominent political philosophies, and the consequences of these inconsistencies for maldevelopments in business ethics. Business Ethics and the Austrian Tradition in Economics illustrates and analyses the business etchics’ peculiarities particularly within German literature, providing the reader with a focus rarely found elsewhere. This book should be of interest to economics postgraduates and researchers looking at business ethics, economic theory, and social and political philosophy.

John Maynard Keynes wrote to his grandchildren more than fifty years ago about their economic possibilities, and thus about our own: "I see us free, there fore, to return to some of the most sure and certain principles of religion and traditional virtue - that avarice is a vice, that the exaction of usury is a misde meanour. . . . We shall once more value ends above means and prefer the good to the useful" ("Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren," pp. 371-72). In the year 1930 Keynes regarded these prospects as realizable only after a time span ofone hundred years, ofwhich we have now achieved more than half. The pres ent book does not share Keynes's view that the possibility of an integration of ethics and economics is dependent exclusively on the state of economic devel opment, though this integration is certainly made easier by an advantageous total economic situation. The conditions of an economy that is becoming post of ethics, cultural industrial and post-modern are favorable for the unification theory, and economics. Economic development makes a new establishment of economic ethics and a theory ofethical economy necessary. Herdecke and Hanover, October 1987 P. K. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword v Introduction . 0. 1. Ethical Economy and Political Economy . . 0. 1. 1. Ethical Economy as Theory ofthe Ethical Presuppositions of the Economy and Economic Ethics 3 0. 1. 2.

Annotation Modern happiness research has produced a wealth of evidence on the relationship between economic conditions and life satisfaction. This book provides an interpretation of this evidence and shows that it can be understood with the help of a handful of psychological and economic effects.

When we first invited the group of distinguished scholars represented here to contribute to a new volume on Austrian economics, four themes were stressed: tensions, new directions, selectivity, and criticism. In this brief introduction we will explain why those themes were emphasized and thereby shed light on our intentions and aspirations for the volume. The subtitle "Tensions and New Directions" indicates clearly the intent of the volume desired. If we take the 1871 publication of Carl Menger's Principles of Economics (Grundsiitze der Volkswirthschaftslehre) as mark ing its birth, the Austrian tradition is now well over one hundred years old. The origins of the so-called "Austrian Revival" are more difficult to pinpoint precisely, but many would accept two decades as a reasonable estimate of its lifespan. In any case, since the mid-1970s several collections of articles written by Austrians have been published. The intent of these collections appeared to be to educate, persuade, and inspire various audiences. Uninformed readers needed to be told about the specifics of the Austrian position, to be shown how it differed from and improved upon its rivals. The initiated needed to be reassured that their commitment to a novel program was justified. As such, much of the recent Austrian literature has consisted either of exegetical accounts of the views of past figures, or of critical assessments of the positions of alternative research programs in economics from an Austrian perspective.

For most economists, ‘Austrian economics’ refers to a distinct school of thought, originating with Mises and Hayek and characterised by a strong commitment to free-market liberalism. This innovative book explores an alternative Austrian tradition in economics. Demonstrating how the debate on the economics of socialism began in Austria long before the 1930s, it analyses the work and impact of many leading Austrian economists through a century of Austrian socialist economics.

The approaches to economic ethics and business ethics in Continental Europe and those in America show considerable differences but also a shared interest in turning business ethics into a subject relevant and useful for business practice as well as for the philosophical debate on ethics. The volume collects original essays on the major approaches to economic ethics and business ethics in Germany, the USA, and Europe. It provides the reader with a comprehensive overview about the discussion on modern economic ethics and business ethics. It introduces the German approaches to economic ethics and to business ethics to the English-speaking audience.

This text argues that the major economic problems of the present century involve issues of public goods and common pool resources with which orthodox economic theory, based as it is on private markets, is ill-equipped to deal.

How should we conduct economics in an era of climate change, natural resource depletion and population increase? These issues are systemic, and involve great uncertainties and long time horizons. This book contends that the free-market economics that has dominated capitalist democracies in recent decades is not up to the task; that the welfarist economics that preceded it, while preferable, also has inadequacies; and that what is required is an economics founded on ecological principles, greater respect for the laws of natural science, and a moral commitment to a sustainable future. The book commences with an exposition of major aspects of orthodox macroeconomic and microeconomic theory. It then explores the bounds of orthodox theory in relation to ethics, liberalism, ideology, society, the international economy, globalization, and the environment, and seeks lessons for a future economics. Issues raised by natural resource use and climate change are given particular prominence. Many of the issues of critical importance in coming decades involve not private goods but public goods: goods which markets are ill-equipped to deal with. In the resolution of these issues political processes will need to be engaged. The availability to each individual of clean air, clean water and adequate sustenance, goods which cannot be provided for by economic production alone, are of central concern. While acknowledging the importance of market processes, the author argues in favour of a more deliberative and democratic economy, the greater engagement of civil society, environmental human rights and responsibilities, and in favour of a World Environment Organization, change in the conduct of the World Trade Organization, and for economists to accept moral responsibility for the policies they advocate. Specific case studies are given and potential policies outlined. This book will be of interest not only to economists but also to citizens generally and students concerned with public affairs.