Dr. Khalid Mir, Associate Professor, Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences (MGSHSS) has authored a book titled, ‘Ethics and Economic Theory’ (Routledge, 2018). The book takes a more pluralistic approach to economic theory and allows room for ethical considerations.
"My book highlights how market economies may 'crowd out' ethical behaviour and how our evaluation of them typically elides ethical reflection. At the heart of our political, economic and ecological crises there is a relational crisis,” Dr. Mir said. He further elaborates that both economic theory and market economies make it more difficult to think about ethics (relationality). According to his book, both the theoretical understanding of the economy and the actual working of real-world market economies diminish the scope for thinking about the relationship between ethics, economics, and the economy.
The book is a multi-disciplinary critique of economics’ first principles: the fundamental and inter-related structuring assumptions that underlie the neo-classical paradigm. Dr. Mir shared that these assumptions that economic agents are rational, self-interested individuals, continues to influence the teaching of economics, research agendas and policy analyses.
Rethinking economics requires moving beyond these restrictive assumptions to a more pluralistic and richer approach to economic theory, one that allows ample room for ethical considerations. The book suggests how this might be achieved by providing insights into the understanding of human motivations and human flourishing, stressing that a good economy is not possible without reflection on the ethical relations between self, world and time.
For details about the book click here.
