Economics as Applied Ethics; Preface; Acknowledgements; Contents; List of Figures; 1 Introduction; Part I Basic Principles; 2 Preview; 1 Value Judgements in Welfare Economics; 2 The Welfare of the Individual; 3 From the Individual to Society; 4 Equality and the Distribution Problem; 5 Valuing Life: The Ultimate Value Judgement; 6 National Income and GDP; 7 Happiness; 8 The Boundary in Space and International Justice; 9 The Boundary in Time and Intergenerational Justice; Note; 3 The Main Concepts; 1 David Hume and the Health Fanatic; 2 Value Judgements and Intrinsic Values. 3 Normative Propositions and Positive Propositions4 What Is Welfare Economics?; 5 The Construction of Welfare/Normative Economics; Notes; 4 Fact and Value in Personal Choice; 1 The Pain of Personal Choice; 2 The Basic Theory of Consumers' Choice; 3 The 'Utility Function' in Economics; 4 Preferences and Theories of 'the Good'; 5 The Economic Concept of Rational Choice; Notes; 5 How to Make 'Bad' Choices; 1 Why People Make 'Bad' Choices; 2 Information and 'Rational Ignorance'; 3 Consumer Sovereignty or Paternalism?; 4 Altruism and Commitment; 5 Conclusions; Notes. 6 Fact and Value in Public Policy: Three Examples1 The Equality-Efficiency Trade-Off; 2 The Price Stability Objective; 3 The 'Fair Trade' Problem; 4 Conclusions; Notes; 7 From Economic 'Efficiency' to Economic Welfare; 1 Cost-Benefit Analysis in Welfare Economics; 2 Cost-Benefit Analysis and 'Franklin's Algebra'; 3 Pareto Optimality and the Compensation Test; 4 Practical Limitations on the Compensation Test; 5 Pareto Optimality and the Distribution of Incomes; 6 Introducing the 'Social Welfare Function'; 7 Conclusions; Notes; 8 The 'Mindless Society'; 1 Is There a ' Society'? 2 Social Choice Theory and the Impossibility Theorem3 An Example: Local Air Pollution; 4 The Welfare Economics Approach; 5 An Example: The 'Summers Memorandum'; 6 Conclusions; Notes; 9 Utilitarianism: The Search for an Overriding Value; 1 Introduction; 2 The 'Right' or the 'Good'; 3 Utilitarianism; 4 Utilitarianism in Economics; 5 What Is 'Utility'?; 6 Main Varieties of Utilitarianism; Notes; 10 Utilitarianism and Its Constraints; 1 Constraints on Utility Maximisation; 2 'Special Obligations' and 'Agent Relative Ethics'; 3 Plural Values and Incommensurability. 4 Incommensurability and Rational Choice5 Conclusions; Notes; Part II Applications; 11 GDP and Friends; 1 Limitations on the National Income Concept; 2 Economists and the GDP-Welfare Link; 3 Values in the GDP Concept; 4 'Measurable Economic Welfare'; 5 Other Measures of 'Well-Being'; 6 Human Development and 'Capabilities'; 7 Is GDP a Useful Concept?; 8 Conclusions; Notes; 12 Well-Being and Happiness; 1 Why Not Just Measure 'Happiness'?; 2 But What Is 'Happiness'?; 3 The Overall Results; 4 Does More Income Make People Happier?; 5 Happiness and Policy; Notes; 13 The Discount Rate.

This important textbook has been revised and updated to continue its focus on the link between ethics and economic policy analysis, whilst ensuring that perspectives addressing the moral limits of the market, latest behavioural economics literature, and the changes in inequality over the years are included. Basic philosophical concepts are systematically described, followed by conventional welfare economic theory and policy, and applications to some topical economic problems such as income distribution and sustainable development.