TNFS

“The Normative Foundations of Scarcity,” Real-World Economics Review, issue no. 61, 26

September 2012, pp. 22-39

SSRN Version

ABSTRACT

Since Robbins (1932) influential essay on the methodology of economics, scarcity has been taken as the fundamental economic problem. We will argue that this is based on a tacit assumption of primacy of property rights. We illustrate how differing ethical commitments on part of a society lead to differing formulations of the fundamental economic problem.

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