Chapter 20. Social economics

Social economics regards the economy as embedded in human society. Its goal of explaining and premising the concept of 'social' in economics distinguishes it from classical political economy, contemporary mainstream economics, and most other political economic approaches. This chapter reviews the origins and early history of this school of thought, discusses recent postwar social economics, and identifies new themes in its research agenda. Then it discusses social economists' understanding of economic policy and their views about the relationship between ethics and economics. It differentiates the 'moral limits of markets' approach that regards some domains of social life as 'off limits' to markets from the 'taming the market' approach. The chapter also considers key methodological issues, including the critique of the positive-normative distinction of mainstream economics and the positivist view that economics should practice value-neutrality. The chapter concludes with discussion of social economics' main normative goals and social values.