values may contribute to the implicit value of outcome-based decision-making that
only considers the optimization of the outcome rather than the impact of the outcome
to others and future consumption.
The foundation for current economic thought can be found in the writings of
Adam Smith (1791), Jeremy Bentham (1879), David Ricardo (1911), and Karl Marx
(1959) along with many others. However, though all of these authors provided
insights related to the human behavior contemporary to their time, the context of
their writings has often been neglected in lieu of an adoption of an absolute meaning
of their opinions. In essence, allowing the commentaries of these authors to embody
a universal significance independent of time has arguably enabled the transfer of the
theoretical modeling of a society specific from one period to another, independent of
any assessment of the temporal evolution of behavior and underlying values.
To a large extent, the economic principles in practice have maintained the theories
espoused by the writers and contributors to economic thought contemporary to the
Classical period. John Stuart Mill’s (2016) Principles of Political Economy provided
a summary of the contributions to economic thought by Adam Smith, David
Ricardo, and other significant thought leaders of the nineteenth century and became
a standard text used in the study of economics into the early twentieth century.
However, of note is that the authors including Mill were relaying behaviors perceived in a society contemporary to their life and questioning aspects of the observed
progress of the time including poverty, the role of money, and the potential impact of
population growth. Their thoughts were debated, discussions and their frameworks
were not adopted as immutable facts. Additionally, the issues discussed were similar
to those of predecessor Western societies and as evidenced in the moral philosophical discourses of Plato and Aristotle, nearly two millennia earlier. The evaluation of
the human condition within a given social and economic framework prompted
economic commentators to be both positive evaluators from the perspective that
positive signifies reporting on observable and factual phenomenon and normative
participants, where normative requires an expression of value judgment.
In contrast with the foundations of the discipline, the present instruction of
economics has eliminated the normative aspects of assessment, reducing economics
to mathematical relationships that are addressed in absolute terms rather than in
alignment with cultural attributions coincident with their development. Furthermore,
the seeming lack of attention to values and behavior incorporated within economic
assessment has distanced the tangibility of economics, limiting understanding of the
explanatory potential of economics and the application of economics as both a cause
and a remedy of unsustainable practices. As a result, at present there is a need to
promote and foster an understanding of the role of values in economic outcomes and
the sustainability of observed outcomes.
20
M. Venkatesan
only considers the optimization of the outcome rather than the impact of the outcome
to others and future consumption.
The foundation for current economic thought can be found in the writings of
Adam Smith (1791), Jeremy Bentham (1879), David Ricardo (1911), and Karl Marx
(1959) along with many others. However, though all of these authors provided
insights related to the human behavior contemporary to their time, the context of
their writings has often been neglected in lieu of an adoption of an absolute meaning
of their opinions. In essence, allowing the commentaries of these authors to embody
a universal significance independent of time has arguably enabled the transfer of the
theoretical modeling of a society specific from one period to another, independent of
any assessment of the temporal evolution of behavior and underlying values.
To a large extent, the economic principles in practice have maintained the theories
espoused by the writers and contributors to economic thought contemporary to the
Classical period. John Stuart Mill’s (2016) Principles of Political Economy provided
a summary of the contributions to economic thought by Adam Smith, David
Ricardo, and other significant thought leaders of the nineteenth century and became
a standard text used in the study of economics into the early twentieth century.
However, of note is that the authors including Mill were relaying behaviors perceived in a society contemporary to their life and questioning aspects of the observed
progress of the time including poverty, the role of money, and the potential impact of
population growth. Their thoughts were debated, discussions and their frameworks
were not adopted as immutable facts. Additionally, the issues discussed were similar
to those of predecessor Western societies and as evidenced in the moral philosophical discourses of Plato and Aristotle, nearly two millennia earlier. The evaluation of
the human condition within a given social and economic framework prompted
economic commentators to be both positive evaluators from the perspective that
positive signifies reporting on observable and factual phenomenon and normative
participants, where normative requires an expression of value judgment.
In contrast with the foundations of the discipline, the present instruction of
economics has eliminated the normative aspects of assessment, reducing economics
to mathematical relationships that are addressed in absolute terms rather than in
alignment with cultural attributions coincident with their development. Furthermore,
the seeming lack of attention to values and behavior incorporated within economic
assessment has distanced the tangibility of economics, limiting understanding of the
explanatory potential of economics and the application of economics as both a cause
and a remedy of unsustainable practices. As a result, at present there is a need to
promote and foster an understanding of the role of values in economic outcomes and
the sustainability of observed outcomes.
20
M. Venkatesan