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On the contrary, 'providing the greatest possible benefit to the greatest number of people' is a central focus in economics. Start with Pareto efficiency and g
by Pinatubo 12y ago
On the contrary, 'providing the greatest possible benefit to the greatest number of people' is a central focus in economics. Start with Pareto efficiency and go from there if you want to see various ways in which economists actually define and study efficiency.
- ConfuciusSay 12y agoEconomists might focus on that, but the point is that in actuality companies do not focus on 'providing the greatest possible benefit to the greatest number of people'. Partially it's because that goal is far more difficult and complex than the simple aspirations of Greater Taylorism: to increase shareholder value. It's much easier to increase a stock price than it is to actually provide value for a large number of people, which leads to cases like IBM who spends billions buying back their stock while the actual value of their products declines to near zero.
- Pinatubo 12y agoI assumed by "orthodox economics" OP meant the study of economics. If s/he actually meant corporate behavior then that's of course different. Unfortunately people often conflate the study of economics with business, which leads to a lot of confusion.
- coldtea 12y agoPaying lip service to something is not the same as applied economics.