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SEVENTEENTH ESSAY 2-15-01

Moral Economics - Essays On The Relation of Economic Theory to the Moral
Perspective in POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT: AN INTER-FAITH PERSPECTIVE.
[www.wfdd.org.uk/]

This is the seventeenth of an occasional series of short essays about how
economic theory interacts with a moral perspective. Readers are invited to
discuss and to re-post widely, but please quote the source.

CULTURAL, ECONOMIC DIVERSITY

" ...If people's visions and values, their perceptions of reality and their
most cherished beliefs are disregarded, their very identity will be
threatened...Each community should have the right to its own economic
systems..., even if these coexist with other models. Collective ownership of
assets, exchange on the basis of giving and receiving, and shared work are
all ways of conducting the economic life of a community..." [POVERTY AND
DEVELOPMENT: AN INTER-FAITH PERSPECTIVE, para 7.0]

ECONOMICS IS ABOUT MORE THAN MONEY

A study of economic theory can lead to a singular view of human activities:
economics suggests that all human behavior revolve around the purchase and
sale of goods or services. Yet, such activities consume only a small portion
of most people's lives and consciousness.

The danger is that this singular viewpoint can lead its adherents to ignore
all other aspects of human life and, by ignoring them, create institutions,
which foster the purchase and sale of goods and services at the expense of
other activities. The global spread of Western business brings with it the
spread of Western values and practices. These practices can conflict with
local cultural values and practices and can make those local values
untenable, unless the local national government recognizes the conflict and
is willing and able to protect local values from global corruption.

Sacred land may be sold to developers so that more commercial buildings can
be built. Community based services may be forced to compete with
international, profit based corporations willing to sustain a loss until the
competition is destroyed. Young people may find the values of their
traditional parents backward and choose to live like young people in New
York or London.

A moral government recognizes this conflict and attempts to protect some of
its local cultural values from the damage that can be caused from a singular
focus on trade and finance.


Michael Pierce McKeever, Sr.
Economics Instructor, Vista Community College, Berkeley, CA
URL: www.mkeever.com [Note: no 'c' in mkeever]

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