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A Sceptic's Comment on the Study of Economics

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Author Info
Ariel Rubinstein
Abstract

A survey was carried out among two groups of undergraduate economics students and four groups of students in mathematics, law, philosophy and business administration. The main survey question involved a conflict between profit maximisation and the welfare of the workers who would be fired to achieve it. Significant differences were found between the choices of the groups. The results were reinforced by a survey conducted among readers of an Israeli business newspaper and PhD students of Harvard. It is argued that the overly mathematical methods used to teach economics encourage students to lean towards profit maximisation. Copyright 2006 Royal Economic Society.

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File URL: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2006.01071.x
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Royal Economic Society in its journal The Economic Journal.

Volume (Year): 116 (2006)
Issue (Month): 510 (03)
Pages: C1-C9
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Handle: RePEc:ecj:econjl:v:116:y:2006:i:510:p:c1-c9

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  1. Pedro Garcia-del-Barrio & Stefan Szymanski, 2006. "Goal! Profit maximization and win maximization in football leagues," Working Papers 0621, International Association of Sports Economists. [Downloadable!]
  2. Edna Ullmann-Margalit, 2007. "Difficult Choices: To Agonize or not to Agonize?," Discussion Paper Series dp450, Center for Rationality and Interactive Decision Theory, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. [Downloadable!]
  3. Edna Ullmann-Margalit, 2007. "Difficult Choices: To Agonize or not to Agonize?," Levine's Bibliography 321307000000000965, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2010-1-3.


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