Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street

365 Pages·2011·4.36 MB·English

by  Tomas Sedlacek

Economics of Good and Evil
This page intentionally left blank
Economics of Good and Evil
The Quest for Economic Meaning from
Gilgamesh to Wall Street
Tomas Sedlacek

1
1
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further
Oxford University’s objective of excellence
in research, scholarship, and education.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offi ces in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright © 2011 Tomas Sedlacek.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sedlacek, Tomas, 1977–
[Ekonomie dobra a zla. English]
Economics of good and evil : the quest for economic meaning from
Gilgamesh to Wall Street / Tomas Sedlacek.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-976720-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Economics—Philosophy.
2. Economics—Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Good and evil.
4. Civilization—History. 5. Literature and morals. I. Title.

HB72.S36513 2011
174—dc22 2010030271
978-0-19-976720-5 (cloth)
Editor of the Czech original: Jirˇí Nádoba, Co-editors: Martin Pospíšil,
Lukáš Tóth
Translation: Douglas Arellanes
Illustrations (inside): Milan Starý
First published in Czech as Ekonomie dobra a zla, 2009, by 65. pole Publishing,
Konevova 121, Praha 3, Czech Republic.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
This book was translated into English with the kind support of CˇSOB a.s.,
a member of KBC Group.
To my young son Chris, who I feel understands more than I ever will, as
perhaps I also did long ago. Anyway, may you one day write a better book.
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan
The proper study of mankind is man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the stoic’s pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God, or beast;
In doubt his mind and body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas’ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much;
Chaos of thought and passion, all confus’d;
Still by himself, abus’d or disabus’d;
Created half to rise and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all,
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl’d;
The glory, jest and riddle of the world.
Alexander Pope, The Riddle of the World
Contents
Foreword by Václav Havel ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: The Story of Economics: From Poetry
to Science 3
PART I: ANCIENT ECONOMICS AND BEYOND 17
1 The Epic of Gilgamesh: On Effectiveness, Immortality,
and the Economics of Friendship 19
2 The Old Testament: Earthliness and Goodness 45
3 Ancient Greece 93
4 Christianity: Spirituality in the Material World 131
5 Descartes the Mechanic 171
6 Bernard Mandeville’s Beehive of Vice 183
7 Adam Smith, Blac ksmith of Economics 193
PART II: BLASPHEMOUS THOUGHTS 213
8 Need for Greed: The History of Want 215
9 Progress, New Adam, and Sabbath Economics 231
10 The Axis of Good and Evil and the Bibles of Economics 251
11 The History of the Invisible Hand of the Market and
Homo Economicus 259
vii
viii Contents
12 The History of Animal Spirits: The Dream Never Sleeps 275
13 Metamathematics 285
14 Masters of Truth: Science, Myths, and Faith 299
Conclusion: Where the Wild Things Are 319
Bibliography 325
Index 341
Foreword
Václav Havel
I had the opportunity to read Tomas Sedlacek’s book before it was pub-
lished in the Czech Republic in 2009 under the same title, and it was
obvious that it was an unconventional view on a scientifi c discipline
that—as the general belief has it—is exceptionally dull. Of course I was
taken with the book, and I was curious about the kind of interest it would
provoke in other readers. To the surprise of both the author and publisher,
it immediately drew so much attention in the Czech Republic that it
became a bestseller within a few weeks, and both experts and the general
public were talking about it. By coincidence, Tomas Sedlacek was at that
time also a member of the Czech government’s National Economic
Council, which, in its behavior as well as its views on long-term goals,
stood in sharp contrast to the quarrelsome political environment, which
usually doesn’t think further than the next election.
Instead of self-confi dent and self-centered answers, the author humbly
asks fundamental questions: What is economics? What is its meaning?
Where does this new religion, as it is sometimes called, come from? What
are its possibilities and its limitations and borders, if there are any? Why
are we so dependent on permanent growing of growth and growth of
growing of growth? Wh ere did the idea of progress come from, and where
is it leading us? Why are so many economic debates accompanied by
obsession and fanaticism? All of this must occur to a thoughtful person,
but only rarely do the answers come from economists themselves.
The majority of our political parties act with a narrow materialistic
focus when, in their programs, they present the economy and fi nance
fi rst; only then, somewhere at the end, do we fi nd culture as something
pasted on or as a libation for a couple of madmen. Whether they are on
the right or left, most of them—consciously or unconsciously—accept
and spread the Marxist thesis of the economic base and the spiritual
superstructure.
It may all be related to how economics as a scientifi c discipline frequently
tends to be mistaken for mere accounting. But what good is accounting
when much of what jointly shapes our lives is diffi cult to calculate or is
completely incalculable? I wonder what such an economist-accountant
ix