The Skeptical Economist
Revealing the Ethics Inside Economics
Jonathan Aldred
Hardback: 978 1 84407 705 2
Price: $35.00  

Publisher: Earthscan Publications Ltd.
April 2009 , 290 pp., 6 1/8" x 9 1/4"
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Named as a 2009 Outstanding Academic Title by Choice

The Skeptical Economist rejects the story told by other popular economics books. It shows that economics is not an agreed body of knowledge or an objective science. In reality, economics is built on ethical foundations, distinctive and controversial views about how we ought to live, and what we value.

In this revealing and entertaining book, the author exposes these hidden assumptions, and in doing so opens the black box of modern economics to reveal that the conventional wisdom is not what it appears to be. Often the conventional wisdom has hoodwinked us; ordinary people sometimes understand the economy better than professional economists. In short, The Skeptical Economist rediscovers the ethics at the heart of economics.

The book responds to Western malaise about quality of life, and a growing curiosity about economics and its relevance to these concerns. It is for readers who know that economics is unavoidably central to any attempt to improve our quality of life, but do not know why. It conveys a sense of hope, without being utopian. It is a book of ideas and will challenge us all to examine the assumptions behind the economics of our current way of life.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements; 1) Introduction: Ethical Economics?; 2) The Sovereign Consumer; 3) Two Myths About Economic Growth; 4) The Politics of Pay; 5) Happiness; 6) Pricing Life and Nature; 7) New Worlds of Money: Public Services and Beyond; 8) Conclusion; Notes; References; Index.


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Reviews & Endorsements:
"Within the field of economics, observes Aldred (economics, U. of Cambridge, UK), there are many who peddle a narrow or simplistic view of economics to serve vested interests and political ends. In addition to this group, there is a more naïve set of economists who seek to avoid ethical judgments in the practice of their discipline. Both groups practice a form of "black box economics," in which basic assumed principles (e.g. "The value of life can be measured in monetary terms" and "Economic growth increases happiness") are obscured and rarely discussed. Insisting that ethics cannot be so neatly separated from economics and that these hidden principles should be matter of explicit debate, Aldred aims to uncover these hidden ethical assumptions and present them to the general reader in a manner free of mathematics and jargon. His discussion consists of stand-alone chapters examining issues of consumption, the nature of economic growth, the politics of pay, the economics of happiness, the valuation of life and nature, and issues of public services."
- Book News Inc.
"Aldred sets forth a new economics backed by an ethical framework that affirms quality of life, not just efficiency and output. His framework overturns many classic economics assumptions, such as the belief that more economic productivity equates with more happiness, that taxes are always wrong, and that people will always opt for that which is more profitable to them."
- The Futurist