The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

ECONOMICS:A BranchofMoralPhilosophyLEONARD E. READTHE AUTHOR of The Wealth ofNati,ons (1776) is frequentlyclassed as an eighteenth centuryeconomist. 'But Adam Smith wasprimarily a professor of moralphilosophy, the discipline which Ibelieve is the appropriate one forthe study of human action andsuch subdivisions of it as may beinvolved in political economy.Moral philosophy is the studyof right and wrong, good and evil,better and worse. These polaritiescannot be translated into quantitativeand measurable terms and,for that reason, moral philosophyis sometimes discredited as lackingscientific objectivity. And it isnot, in fact, a science in the sensethat mathematics, chemistry, andphysics are sciences. The effort ofmany economists to make thestudy of political economy a naturalscience draws the subject outof its broader discipline of moralphilosophy, which leads in turn tosocial mischief.Carl Snyder, long-time statisticianof the Federal Reserve Board,exemplifies an economic "scientist."He wrote an impressivebook, Capitalism the Creator.lI agree with this author thatcapitalism is, indeed, a creator,providing untold wealth and materialbenefits to countless millionsof people. But, in spite of all thelearned views to the contrary, Ibelieve that capitalism, in its significantsense, is more than Snyderand many other statisticians andeconomists make it out to be - farmore. If so, then to teach thatcapitalism is fully explained inmathematical terms is to settle forsomething less than it really is.This leaves unexplained and vul-1 Carl Snyder, Capitalism the Creator(New York: The Macmillan Company,1940; Arno Press, 1972), 492 pp.22