Oxford Handbook of Professional Economic Ethics
Edited by George F. DeMartino and Deirdre M. McCloskey
For over a century the economics profession has extended its reach to encompass policy formation and institutional design while largely ignoring the ethical challenges that attend the profession’s influence over the lives of others. The Oxford Handbook of Professional Economic Ethics explores a wide range of questions related to the nature of ethical economic practice and the content of professional economic ethics. The Handbook incorporates the work of leading scholars and practitioners, including academic economists from various theoretical traditions; applied economists, beyond academia, whose work has direct and immense social impact; and philosophers, professional ethicists, and others whose work has addressed the nature of “professionalism” and its implications for ethical practice.
The Economist’s Oath
Economists alter the course of economic affairs and deeply affect the lives of current and future generations. Yet, virtually alone among the major professions, economics lacks the field of professional ethics to guide its practitioners. The Economist’s Oath seeks to initiate a serious conversation among economists about the ethical content of their work. It examines the ethical entailments of the immense influence over the lives of others that the economics profession now enjoys, and proposes a framework for the new field of professional economic ethics.
Global Economy, Global Justice
Global Economy, Global Justice explores the vital question: “What makes for a good economic outcome?” It rejects the normative commitment of neoclassical economic theory to welfarism, and its resulting claim that the global, market-based economy emerging at present represents the highest possible stage of economic development. In place of global neoliberalism the book calls for policies that promote global equality defined in terms of capabilities. The author demonstrates that neoclassical economics embraces a range of objectionable assumptions about human nature, society, and science, the exposure of which weakens the ethical foundations of global neoliberalism.
George F. DeMartino 