275 research outputs found
Assumption without representation: the unacknowledged abstraction from communities and social goods
We have not clearly acknowledged the abstraction from unpriceable “social goods” (derived from
communities) which, different from private and public goods, simply disappear if it is attempted to
market them. Separability from markets and economics has not been argued, much less established.
Acknowledging communities would reinforce rather than undermine them, and thus facilitate
the production of social goods. But it would also help economics by facilitating our understanding
of – and response to – financial crises as well as environmental destruction and many social problems,
and by reducing the alienation from economics often felt by students and the public
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