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Fri Mar 31 17:18:41 2006 |
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The way I was taught economics did NOT require that the variables
in the "to maximize" box or the "subject to" box be material goods
or material income.
Material goods might be one vector INSIDE the maximize box, and
income might be one constraint in the subject to box -- but the
constraint of time, mores about behavior, or skill can be considered,
just like the goals of a healthy family, status in the community,
or religious expression.
Thus there is room to discuss how increased costs of something or
other might impact on the behavior of someone who is maximizing
time for religious expression. That's economics. Or how shifts in
legal constraints or institutional arrangements impact on perceived
and achievable goals.
This is honestly the way I was taught economics! Material
goods are just PART of the stew.
That's a very different kind of economics than one confined to
material goods or to only those actions taking place through a
market, isn't it?
So what do I call the ONE, and what do I call the OTHER?
-- Mary Schweitzer
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