Deirdre Nansen McCloskey's latest meticulous work examines how economics can become a more "human" science.Economic historian Deirdre Nansen McCloskey has distinguished herself through her writing on the Great Enrichment and the betterment of the poor—not just materially but spiritually. In Bettering Humanomics she continues her intellectually playful yet rigorous analysis with a focus on humans rather than the institutions. Going against the grain of contemporary neo-institutional and behavioral economics which privilege observation over understanding, she asserts her vision of “humanomics,” which draws on the work of Bart Wilson, Vernon Smith, and most prominently, Adam Smith. She argues for an economics that uses a comprehensive understanding of human action beyond behaviorism. McCloskey clearly articulates her points of contention with believers in “imperfections,” from Samuelson to Stiglitz, claiming that they have neglected scientific analysis in their haste to diagnose the ills of the system. In an engaging and erudite manner, she reaffirms the global successes of market-tested betterment and calls for empirical investigation that advances from material incentives to an awareness of the human within historical and ethical frameworks. Bettering Humanomics offers a critique of contemporary economics and a proposal for an economics as a better human science.
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey is distinguished professor emerita of economics and of history and professor emerita of English and of communication, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the author of two dozen books including Leave Me Alone and I’ll Make You Rich, The Bourgeois Virtues, Bourgeois Dignity, Bourgeois Equality, Crossing: A Transgender Memoir, and Economical Writing.
PrefacePart I. The ProposalChapter 1. Humanomics and Liberty Promise Better Economic ScienceChapter 2. Adam Smith Practiced Humanomics, and So Should WeChapter 3. Economic History Illustrates the Problems with NonhumanomicsChapter 4. An Economic Science Needs the HumanitiesChapter 5. It’s Merely a Matter of Common Sense and Intellectual Free TradeChapter 6. After All, Sweet Talk Rules a Free EconomyChapter 7. Therefore We Should Walk on Both Feet, Like Ludwig LachmannChapter 8. That Is, Economics Needs Theories of Human Minds beyond BehaviorismPart II. The Killer AppChapter 9. The Killer App of Humanomics Is the Evidence That the Great Enrichment Came from Ethics and RhetoricChapter 10. The Dignity of Liberalism Did ItChapter 11. Ideas, Not Incentives, Underlie ItChapter 12. Even as to Time and LocationChapter 13. The Word’s the ThingPart III. The DoubtsChapter 14. Doubts by Analytic Philosophers about the Killer App Are Not PersuasiveChapter 15. Nor by Sociologists or Political PhilosophersChapter 16. Nor Even by Economic HistoriansNotesWorks CitedIndex
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey latest meticulous work examines how economics can become a more "human" science