| dc.description.abstract | From seemingly outdated passages of Aristotle on oikonomikè,
this paper tries to select and separate what is old-fashioned from
what is valid for today. From these latter elements –which may be
abridged in the intrinsic ethical and political character of economics–
we can extract useful lessons. These lessons refer to the impact of
Ethics and Politics on Economics. They stress the relevance of personal
virtues and institutions for a suitable functioning of the economy.
From an epistemological point of view, these lessons highlight
the inexact character of Economics and the necessity of firm reliance
on data. Current economics does not deal with ends, but only with
means. The Aristotelian perspective would specially deal with ends.
This concern with ends leads to prudential, not technical analysis and
decisions. This calls for broadening the scope of Economics and consequently
should provoke changes in its instruction. The paper concludes
that a closer attention to Aristotle’s thought would have a high
impact on current economy and Economics. | en_US |
