Ethics, Economics, and Politics:Principles of Public Policy

Download or read book Ethics, Economics, and Politics:Principles of Public Policy written by I. M. D. Little and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2002-10-03 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book studies the interfaces of ethics, economics, and politics. Public policy issues involve all three of these subjects. Although it may be seen as suggesting the nucleus of a joint university course, the book is accessible to and should interest all those concerned with political decisions. Any such decision needs a criterion for judging whether one action or outcome is better than another. Even a dictator must to some extent be concerned about the economic elfare of thecitizens; and a democratic government more so. But how is a person's economic welfare to be judged? Furthermore, any political decision affects the economic welfare of different people differently. How then is the welfare of a community to be judged? This is an ethical question. Underlying any coherentpublic policy there must be a relevant moral code.