Ethics, Economic Systems

1
Ethics, Economic Systems the Environment
2
Ethics

• Branch of philosophy
• study of good and bad, right and wrong
• principles by which a person or society judges
  right and wrong
• elucidates criteria, standards, or rules for
  judging right and wrong.

3
Economics

• Study of how people divide or allocate valuable
  goods and services
• Use of resources
• Manufacture goods
• Exchange of resources, goods, services
• Setting of value in markets

4
Ethics Economics

• Questions of value
• What is valuable?
• Money, my car, my house, my computer, my clothes,
  my cell phone? My boat! ?
• Family, friends, neighborhood?
• Birds, mammals, insects, flowers, trees, fish?
• Water, air, soil, ecosystem functions, ecosystem
  services?
• What is right?
• Keeping my stuff?
• Treating other people fairly?
• Preserving living things?
• Preserving clean water, air, soil, etc?

5
Worldviews

• Anthropocentric
• Values money, car, house, computer, clothes, cell
  phone
• Family, friends, neighborhood
• Treating other people fairly
• Denies or ignores rights of non-human entities.
• Biocentric
• Values birds, mammals, insects, flowers, trees,
  fish
• Living things have a right to be
• Ecocentric
• Values clean water, air, soil, ecosystem
  functions and services
• Ecosystems must be left alone.

6
Worldviews
7
Environmental Ethics Ethicists

• Henry David Thoreau, R.W. Emerson
• Nature as manifestation of divine
• John Muir
• Preservation ethic natural environment should be
  kept in pristine condition
• Gifford Pinchot
• Conservation ethic use natural resources wisely,
  sustainably.
• Aldo Leopold
• Land ethic humans part of land-community

8
Economics

• Economy system of production, distribution,
  consumption of goods and services.
• Kinds of economies
• Subsistence economy
• Centrally planned economy
• Capitalist market economy
• Mixed economy

9
Three schools of economics

• Classical economics
• Resources (soil, minerals, water, food, etc.)
  limited, valuable.
• Neoclassical economics
• Labor, human resources have value.
• Ecological economics
• Ecosystem services have value.

10
Economics

• Kinds of economies
• Subsistence economy
• Centrally planned economy
• Capitalist market economy
• Mixed economy

11
Economic Decisions

• Who makes economic decisions??
• What to produce? How much?
• How to produce them?
• How to distribute?
• How to set a price?
• Which goods services to consume (purchase and
  use)?

12
Economic Decisions

• Who makes economic decisions??
• Individuals in the marketplace
• Pure Capitalism, Free-market system

13
Pure Capitalism

• Adam Smith, 1776,
• Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth
  of Nations.
• invisible hand,
• laissez faire.

14
Pure Capitalism

• Works in small economies where information freely
  available.
• No seller or buyer can control or manipulate.
• In large economies, not everyone has information.
• Possible to cheat,
• manipulate supply or demand,
• degrade resources,
• pollute.

15
Economic Decisions

• Who makes economic decisions??
• Government
• pure command economic system,
• centrally planned economy.
• Former USSR,
• China 1947-present.
• Germany under Nazi Party (19331945)

16
Pure Command System

• Does pure command ever work??
• too many tractors,
• not enough toilet paper!!
• Laborers work for State, not for themselves
• Lowers motivation
• Reduces innovation
• Leaders care little for welfare of people.

17
Economic Decisions

• Who makes economic decisions??
• Corporations
• Corporate capitalist economic system.
• Real system in USA?

18
Corporate Capitalist System

• Corporations attempt to control markets (market
  share)
• Maximize profits for shareholders !!
• Produce at low cost.
• cheap foreign labor
• resist labor unions
• Sell at high price (what the market will bear).
• Withhold/conceal information.
• Degrade resources, pollute
• avoid costs of conservation, clean-up

19
Mixed economy

• Corporations small businesses regulated by
  government
• Prevent monopolies (anti-trust laws)
• Modify economic (boom-and-bust) cycles
• Bailout
• Regulate business practices
• Worker safety, product safety effectiveness
• Pollution may be regulated

20
Mixed economy

• Corporations small businesses regulated by
  government
• Provide services not available, or affordable, in
  market
• National security
• Education
• Health care (esp. for poor, elderly)
• Economic safety net
• Social Security, unemployment insurance
• Law enforcement