In what sense,if any,is “economics” distinct from “religion”; And why does it matter?

It matters whether “Economics” is distinct from “Religion” first, because the putative truths of Religion must be more secure than the provisional and fallible truths of Science; secondly, because the scientific claims of Economics would be undermined were they not independent of the religious beliefs of economists; and thirdly, because the contribution of each to public policy formation requires them to be distinct. They are indeed distinct, because Economics is knowledge about the economy whereas Religion is knowledge of God. Knowledge about is intellectual: knowledge of is experiential. The knowledge we may have of God comes by faith, hope and charity: the practice of these can give us no knowledge about interest rates in a capitalist economy.     

The Work Ethic in Industrial America, 1850–1920

Clarence Ayres wished to avoid moral relativism or agnosticism in the social sciences, yet he also rejected what he called the “transcendental” epistemology of classical philosophy, an epistemology grounded in the desire to know absolute or ultimate truths. He wanted to find a middle ground between absolutism and relativism by separating “technology” from “ceremony,” and by replacing the ends/means dichotomy with an ends/means continuum. This paper examines his articulation of the issues, and in this context also examines the work of two more recent theorists, Gary Becker and Richard Posner. We conclude that Ayres' epistemological middle ground remains elusive.     

Reply to Frederic Lee's Comment on “The Citation Impact of Feminist Economics”

Abstract

This essay is a response to “A Comment on the Citation Impact of Feminist Economics,” by Frederic Lee, which appears in this issue ofFeminist Economics.

Frederic Lee's comment is a valuable addition to our understanding of the intellectual interactions between feminist economics and other schools of heterodox thought, and demonstrates how much can be learned by studying citation patterns.     

Strategic thinking in contests

Experimental Economics - We examine motives for ‘overbidding’ in contests between individuals using a “two-headed” approach to decision-making. In “two-headed”...     

The Lighthouse Debate and the Dynamics of Interventionism

The Review of Austrian Economics - Coase’s publication of “The Lighthouse in Economics” (1974) sparked a polarizing debate over his claim that government intervention is not...     

Julian Simon,the problem of socio-ecological resilience and the “ultimate resource”: a reinterpretation

The Review of Austrian Economics - The article argues that the debate between “the limits to growth” movement and Julian Simon could be reconstructed and reinterpreted in the light of...     

Presidential address,association for social economics,January 2005

In recent years social economists have been utilizing a broader than conventional perspective for examining the behavior of economic agents. While traditionally the focus has been on the one-dimensional maximizing “individual with this newer approach the focus is on the multidimensional “person.” Thus the name “Personalist Economics.” Long ago the British writer Thomas Carlyle devoted volumes of pages to the sorts of topics and issues that are prominent in the personalist approach. Here are explored some areas of overlap between Carlyle's and today's personalist perspective, and some questions that might be raised about the two approaches.     

Economic research in Canada: Evolution and convergence

We describe the history and current state of economic research in Canada, including the role of the Canadian Economics Association (CEA) and other institutions. Our paper is organized around two central questions. Is Canadian economic research distinctive? And should it be more distinctive? We argue that a distinct Canadian “school” of economics existed in the past, but that economic research in Canada has converged on an evolving global standard in both method and topics. We ask whether this convergence serves the Canadian public interest and we raise some questions about the future of the CEA and its flagship journal, the CJE.     

An Evaluation of Collaborative Problem Solving for Learning Economics

The use of student evaluations of courses and professors has been examined by Professor Kelley in an effort to learn more about the factors that appear to be associated with “good” or “poor” ratings. Using student evaluations of the Principles of Economics course at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Kelly investigated two dependent variables: measures of course evaluation and measures of professor evaluation. Eleven independent variables were included in the analysis, and two different regression models were used. The results are tentative, of course, but the study reveals some interesting findings on the impact of teaching assistants, the student's expectation of his course grade, and the professor's propensity to be generous or niggardly in awarding high grades.     

The microfoundations of the microfoundations of Austrian Business Cycle Theory

The Review of Austrian Economics - The Austrian School interpretation of the Keynes-Hayek debate runs counter to the conventional wisdom that Hayek “lost” the debate. Austrians maintain...     

Experiential Learning in Economics

Real-life economic situations are simulated, and students are asked to perform decision-making roles. Economics is learned through “experience.”     

Understanding post-communist transitions: the relevance of Austrian economics

The Review of Austrian Economics - The economic literature about the post-communist transition focused primarily on the debate between gradualism and “shock therapy”, and on issues such...     

Intransitivities in multidimensional voting models and some implications for agenda control

This note examines critically two welfare theorems proved by Gary Becker in his “Economics of Discrimination.” Becker demonstrated that discrimination diminishes the welfare of a discriminating group. He also derived a necessary condition for a group which is the victim of discrimination to be made relatively worse off. These results are shown to depend critically on the assumption that disciminators incur psychic costs which nondiscriminators do not. When the same market equilibrium results from psychic benefits, “discriminators” are shown to gain from having a taste for favoritism and the group discriminated against is shown always to be made worse off.     

40 years of tax evasion games: a meta-analysis

Experimental Economics - We collect individual participant data from 70 papers that use laboratory experiments to examine individual tax evasion behavior (or “Tax Evasion Games”), in...     

The CMA’s assessment of customer detriment in the UK retail energy market

Journal of Regulatory Economics - In 2016, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that “weak customer response” enabled incumbent UK energy retailers to set higher and...     

Restoration of a Depleted Transboundary Fishery Subject to Climate Change: A Dynamic Investment Under Uncertainty with Information Updates

Environmental and Resource Economics - We model the evolution of a trans-boundary marine fishery, which is based on the harvesting of a single “highly-migratory” stock and is beginning...     

Long-Term Climate Treaties with a Refunding Club

Environmental and Resource Economics - We show that an appropriately-designed “Refunding Club” can simultaneously solve both free-riding problems in mitigating climate...     

Changing American earnings distributions: One-half century of experience

Empirical Economics - Recent increases in earnings inequality have been described as “enormous.” Is it that we are experiencing a unique shift toward greater inequality or are we...     

Hayek on the essential dispersion of market knowledge

The Review of Austrian Economics - A key insight in Hayek’s thought is the importance of so-called “local knowledge” in economic activity. In The Fatal Conceit, he states that...     

Some Evidence on the Value of Instructors in Teaching Economic Principles

Using data collected from three universities, the authors of this article attempt to show that student attitude is “an important dimension of learning” and that the quality of instruction is indeed associated with attitude. The attitude referred to here is that of student opinions toward economics (as measured by Karstensson's “Questionnaire on Student Attitude Toward Economics”) rather than opinions on economic issues. Posttest scores on the TUCE and the attitude instrument were the dependent variables, while scores on the TUCE pretest, ACT scores, sex, major field, economics background, university attended, and quality of instruction were used as independent variables.