Seven Deadly Economic Sins
Obstacles to Prosperity and Happiness Every Citizen Should Know

Compelling basic principles of economics every citizen should know to enable better personal decision-making and better evaluation of public policy.

James R. Otteson (Author)

9781108843379, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 April 2021

322 pages
22.3 x 14.5 x 2.2 cm, 0.52 kg

James R. Otteson's Seven Deadly Economic Sins is a fine effort to introduce readers to the basic principles of market economics. The hamartiological framing - the 'sins' are bad assumptions about how markets work - is part of the author's effort to make the subject more engaging than a typical treatise on economics. It works. Mr. Otteson, a professor of business ethics at Notre Dame, writes with an apt combination of casual wit and rigorous logic." Barton Swain, The Wall Street Journal

You have heard of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Each is a natural human weakness that impedes happiness. In addition to these vices, however, there are economic sins as well. And they, too, wreak havoc on our lives and in society. They can seem intuitively compelling, yet they lead to waste, loss, and forgone prosperity. In this thoughtful and compelling book, James Otteson tells the story of seven central economic fallacies, explaining why they are fallacies, why believing in them leads to mistakes and loss, and how exorcizing them from our thinking can help us avoid costly errors and enable us to live in peace and prosperity.

Introduction
1. Wealth Is Positive-Sum
2. Good Is Not Good Enough
3. There Is No Great Mind
4. Progress Is Not Inevitable
5. Economics and/or Morality
6. Equality of What?
7. Markets Are Not Perfect
Conclusion. The World and I.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Economic theory & philosophy [KCA], Economics [KC]