Are Economists Basically Immoral?: & Other Essays on Economics, Ethics & Religion - Softcover

Geoffrey Brennan and Anthony Waterman edit an outstanding volume and representative testament of Heyne's work. . . .Although one can take issue with Heyne's particular moral positions or his theological stance, he offers a social vision that calls all of us to lay down our dogmas, recognize the limits of our finite nature, and engage in fruitful dialogue. This volume represents a necessary read for all engaged in the good work of economic analysis and others who want to understand it.

Research in the History of Economic Thought & Methodology
Volume 28A

Geoffrey Brennan and Anthony Waterman have done a wonderful job of producing this volume, especially in making available the unpublished essays and biographical information. It is a . . . . major contribution to raising the level of discussion of relationships between economics and theology. I've enjoyed reading the essays immensely, and will continue to reflect on Heyne's arguments.

Paul Oslington
Policy
Winter 2009

What's the price of a human life? "Are Economists Basically Immoral?" and Other Essays on Economics, Ethics, and Religion is a look at economics and the moral and social contract of the world. All too often economists must attach costs to things with high emotional value, such as human and animal life, and there is much scholarly discussion on this topic contained within the pages of this volume. "Are Economists Basically Immoral?" is quite the piece for discussion, as it is intriguing and enlightening the whole way through.

The Midwest Book Review
March 2009

Heyne was a remarkable man, and the essays in "Are Economists Basically Immoral?" and Other Essays on Economics, Ethics, and Religion by Paul Heyne show something of that remarkableness. Even in discussions of topics well beyond the fundamental level, Heyne succeeds in providing students with an appreciation of basic economic principles. Written with the non-expert in mind, and in a highly engaging style, these essays will be of particular interest to students of economics, professional economists with an interest in ethical and theological topics, and Christians who seek to explore economic issues. The engaging style of Heyne's essays makes them accessible to students as well as to scholars.

SirReadaLot.org
February 2009

This volume collects 26 unpublished and published papers of the late US economist Paul Heyne (1931-2000), many of which are concerned with the question posed by the title (also the title of the first essay) and the relationship between economics and theology (a lifelong concern of Heyne, who was a Lutheran ordinand in the 1950s). In addition to essays on the relationships between ethics, theology, and economics, the essays address teaching and methodology issues and also include discussion of the policy areas of the responsibility of business, labor unions, drug policy, and the environment.

Reference & Research Book News
February 2009

A well-trained theologian, a gifted and dedicated teacher of economics for over forty years, and the author of a highly regarded and widely used textbook, The Economic Way of Thinking, Paul Heyne influenced generations of students of economics. Many of the essays in this volume are published here for the first time. The editors, Geoffrey Brennan and A. M. C. Waterman, have divided Heyne’s essays thematically to cover three general areas: the ethical foundations of free markets, the connection between those ethical foundations and Christian thought, and the teaching of economics?both method and substance.

Heyne’s writings are unique in that he takes the critics of the free market order seriously and addresses their arguments directly, showing how they are defective in their understanding of economics and in their ethical and theological underpinnings. The engaging style of Heyne’s essays makes them accessible to students as well as to scholars. Even in discussions of topics well beyond the fundamental level, Heyne still succeeds in providing students with an appreciation of basic economic principles.

Paul Heyne (1931?2000) taught at Valparaiso University (1957?66), Southern Methodist University (1966?76), and the University of Washington (1976?2000)