Panglossian Paradox: How Paradigmatic Purity Compromises Policy Effectiveness

Ethical systems are embedded in paradigms. The call for an ethical approach to economics must ultimately address the nature and critique of the existing paradigm, rather than focus simply on individual behavior or policy prescriptions. The existing paradigm has its own ethical norms and foundations, even if not widely understood or acknowledged. The norms and paradigm must shift together as part of the same process of critique.