Questioning the Edifice of Economics

One of the basic principles of economics is the idea that the more people are able to get of what they prefer to have, the better off they are and the more their wellbeing increases. But is it true that whatever you prefer is good for you and, therefore, getting more of what you prefer is better for you?

Gary Sauer-Thompson questions this with a little story that ends:

I turned the corner into my street passing a homeless teenager sitting in the gutter sniffing petrol. Clearly, preferring to sniff petrol is not good for you. We would measure her wellbeing by the number of sniffs she had. You know what the economists say to that. We have nothing to say about human preferences. We take them as a given.

Just because we want something, even if we have very rational reasons for that desire, doesn't mean that we really want and really should have it. Sometimes, our desires can be mistaken.

Read More:

• Guide to Ethics and Morality
• What Do You Desire?