Tag Archives: normativity
Normativity and Economics, cont.
Quick follow-up on my last post on the Is/Ought distinction. I argued there: The very discipline of economics is loaded with normative assumptions. Consider two propositions: All goods can be exchanged. Money is a useful proxy for value. Plenty of people reject these propositions. In a post today, Mark Kleiman points out yet another normative assumption built into economics: the … Continue reading
Political Sleight-of-Hand, in Which Pundits Attempt to Derive an Ought from an Is
Every once in a while I find myself banging my head against the wall watching some pundit or making the claim that Pure Science tells us exactly what we should do. Why this is supposed to be a point in the pundit’s favor is beyond me. Is there anything more frightening than the image of a bunch of folks in … Continue reading