That’s the title of Edward Glaeser‘s Economix blog post in the New York Times today. In it, Glaeser points out that beneath the mathematics of modern economics is a fundamental moral core of individual freedom. It’s a great read for understanding that economics is more than a set of mathematical models and calculations. The conclusion (below) captures it well, but I suggest you click through and read the whole piece.
Economists are often wary of moral exhortation, as many see the harm so often wrought by arguments that are long on passion and short on sense. But don’t think that our discipline doesn’t have a moral spine beneath all the algebra. That spine is a fundamental belief in freedom