Modern economics traces all human actions back to the value judgments of individuals. It never was so foolish, as Myrdal charges, as to believe that all that people are after is higher incomes and lower prices. FULL ARTICLE by Ludwig von Mises
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/14157/the-rejection-of-economics/
The Rejection of Economics
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“According to Gunnar Myrdal, economics asserts that human actions are “solely motivated by economic interests”".
So apparently when Myrdal wrote, it was not because he believed what he said, but solely because it paid him to do so.
Read more carefully. It doesn’t say “According to Gunnar Myrdal, human actions are “solely motivated by economic interests””. It says “According to Gunnar Myrdal, economics asserts that human actions are “solely motivated by economic interests””.
OK, it was my error in leaving out that “economics asserts”. But isn’t he saying that he agrees with what economics asserts, or is it conceivable that he disagrees?
I haven’t read Myrdal’s work but given the topic of the section I’m willing to bet he was rejecting economics.
Thank you Seattle, I stand corrected, he in fact said that ‘this is an error’.
“The essential error of economics consists in its assumption that man is invariably egoistic and aims exclusively at material well-being”.
This might be correct in theory but not when it comes to reality. I know this shouldn’t be compared but nevertheless it’s hard not to agree with the claim that people work and act mostly for income purposes.
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