Business is not a Game: The Metaphoric Fallacy

Sport and game metaphors are ubiquitous in the culture and language of business. As evocative linguistic devices, such metaphors are morally neutral; however, if they are indicative of a deep structure of understanding that filters experience, then they have the potential to be ethically problematic. This article argues that there exists a danger for those who forget or confuse metaphor with definition: the metaphoric fallacy. Accordingly, business is like a game, but it is not the equivalent of a game. If business is equated to a game, then the potentially negative implications for ethical content and the application of ethical theories are numerous. This article suggests a fresh approach to issues of contemporary business ethics discourse, by attending to the business-as-game metaphor.     

A note on the validation of cost push

Using a standard macroeconomic model, the question of the government's response to wage push is considered. It is shown that a decision to maintain public expenditure in money rather than real terms has two consequences. One is that the budget may move in a perverse direction and possibly destabilise the economy. The second is that, if the budget behaves normally, output and employment will fall more and prices rise less than would otherwise by the case.