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Behavioral Economics Commons

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Economic Theory

Selected Works

Julie A. Nelson

Selected Works

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Behavioral Economics

Poisoning The Well, Or How Economic Theory Damages, Julie A. Nelson Sep 2012

Poisoning The Well, Or How Economic Theory Damages, Julie A. Nelson

Julie A. Nelson

Contemporary mainstream economics has widely “poisoned the well” from which people get their ideas about the relationship between economics and ethics. The image of economic life as inherently characterized by self-interest, utility- and profitmaximization, and mechanical controllability has caused many businesspeople, judges, sociologists, philosophers, policymakers, critics of economics, and the public at large to come to tolerate greed and opportunism, or even to expect or encourage them. This essay raises and discusses a number of counterarguments that might be made to the charge that current dominant professional practice is having negative ethical effects, as well as discussing some examples of …


Rationality And Humanity: A View From Feminist Economics, Julie A. Nelson Sep 2009

Rationality And Humanity: A View From Feminist Economics, Julie A. Nelson

Julie A. Nelson

DOES RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY (RCT) HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT to contribute to the humanities? Usually the arguments for answering “yes” to this question go something like the following: The application of RCT has proved to be a powerful tool in economics and the social sciences, leading to clear and rigorous insights unattainable from less precise methods. Therefore, by also harnessing this power, the disciplines in the humanities could advance toward becoming more elegant, rational, and forceful in their explorations of human behavior. As an economist, I’d like to address this argument on its home ground. Has the use of RCT advanced …


Teaching Ecological And Feminist Economics In The Principles Course, Julie A. Nelson Jun 2009

Teaching Ecological And Feminist Economics In The Principles Course, Julie A. Nelson

Julie A. Nelson

It can be difficult to incorporate ecological and feminist concerns into introductory courses, when one is also obliged to teach neoclassical analysis. In this essay we briefly describe how one might extend existing “multi-paradigmatic” approaches to feminist and ecological concerns, and then present an new alternative approach that may be more suitable for some students. This “broader questions and bigger toolbox” approach can be applied in both microeconomics and macroeconomics introductory classrooms.


Podcast: Economic Expressions: A Conversation With The Economist Julie Nelson, Julie A. Nelson Dec 2008

Podcast: Economic Expressions: A Conversation With The Economist Julie Nelson, Julie A. Nelson

Julie A. Nelson

No abstract provided.