Description

This is an autonarrated audiobook edition of this book

At its core an economy is about providing goods and services for human wellbeing But many economists and critics preach that an economy is something far different a cold and heartless system that operates outside of human control In this impassioned and perceptive work Julie A Nelson asks a compelling question given that our economic world is something that we as humans create arent ethics and human relationshipsdimensions of a full and rich lifeintrinsically part of the picture

Economics for Humansargues against the wellingrained notion that economics is immune to moral values and distant from human relationships Here Nelson locates the impediment to a more considerate economic world in an assumption that is shared by both neoliberals and the political left Despite their seemingly insurmountable differences both make use of the metaphor first proposed by Adam Smith that the economy is a machine This pervasive idea Nelson argues has blinded us to the qualities that make us work and care for one anotherqualities that also make businesses thrive and markets grow Wecanwed our interest in money with our justifiable concerns about ethics and social wellbeing And we can do so if we recognize that an economy is not a machine but a living thing in need of attention and careful tending

This second edition has been updated and refined throughout with expanded discussions of many topics and a new chapter that investigates the apparent conflict between economic wellbeing and ecological sustainability Further developing the main points of the first edition Economics for Humans will continue to both invigorate and inspire readers to reshape the way they view the economy its possibilities and their place within it