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Executive Summary

There are several 'rethinks' of economics; why do we need another? Lots of things seem wrong with economics ...

De-growth; Sharing Economy; Microfinance; God's Good Economy; Redeeming Economics; Freakonomics; Gift Economy; Digitalization; Relational Economics; Wellbeing economics; Value of Everything; Value(s); Human Development Index; Biodiversity; Economics of Arrival; Economics of Enough; Economy for the Common Good; Economy of Communion; Utopia for Realists; Poor Economics; Gross Happiness Index; Blossoming Economy; Circular Economy; Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism; Participatory Market Systems Development; Mission Economy; Post-Growth; Natural Order of Money; True Price Movement; Doughnut Economics; Foundational Economics; Development Economics; Civil Economy; Environmental Economics; New Environmental Economics ...

Each proposal addresses one or two of the problems. None address them all. No overall view. We need to 'join the dots'; we need an integrated understanding of economics - its theory and its practice, economics as a discipline and as a sphere of life, its activities and its outcomes, its good and its bad points.

This rethink comes to economics from the outside, bringing a rare set of perspectives: from everyday life, from philosophy, from Christian (and other religious) thinking, from seeking to embrace rather than reject or take sides. But it also comes from the inside of economics, engaging with economic theory and practice in detail: listening, affirming, critiquing and enriching. This has led to several main principles:

Overview of Main Principles of Rethink

Consider:

• Have economics and the economy lost their way? In Chapter 4, we discuss the meaning, mandate and mindset of economics as integral economics and not just from outside. Example Key takeaway: Economics as 'serving' other spheres of life, all together aimed at Multi-aspectual Overall Good, rather than being the most important.

• Is economics too narrow in what it values? In Chapter 5, we argue that a wide range of values is important, to be taken account of within economics theory as well as practice - especially the natural world, unpaid household work, and even subtle things like happiness, aesthetics and faith. Example Key Takeaway: A sound foundation for refusing to make money the measure of all things: Dooyeweerd's Aspects to understand diversity of value(s).

• Do economic predictions keep going wrong? Do we truly understand economic activity? Chapter 6 presents a multi-aspectual idea of functioning and repercussions, in which economics theory and practice take account of other spheres of human life rather than treating them as 'externalities'. Example Key Takeaways: 1. Take every aspect into account, especially hidden mindset and attitude. 2. Here is a way to include unpaid work.

• How much damage does the economy do to the world, to human health and happiness? Chapter 7 finds a way to properly distinguish harmful and useless economic activity from good in multiple aspects, rather than just lump them all together as GDP and the desire for growth do. Example Key Takeaways: 1. GDP should subtract Harmful economic activity from Good, rather than add it. 2. A way to decide where growth and de-growth should occur.

• What of the entities in economics, like money, markets or banks? Chapter 8 reconceives entities as bundles of meaning, bringing responsibility right into the centre rather than bolted on. Example Key Takeaway: Money is not a resource for satisfaction; money is an opportunity for responsibility.

That sums up our rethink or reframing of economics.

USPs ("Unique Selling Points")

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• Many call for "culture change" in economics but as a vague concept; we give it substance and discuss how to achieve it.
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Contents of This Page

Structure of Site

This page: a contents list with summaries of each chapter and section. Reading through the summaries should give you an overall idea of what the Rethink / Reframing is about.

Ten chapters in three parts:

• Part I, Chapters 1, Introduction. Chapter 2, Overview of Recent Ideas. Chapter 3, Explanation of Perspectives.
• Part II, Chapters 4-8, discussing the five questions above.
• Part III, Chapters 9-10, Application and Conclusion.

In Part III, Chapter 9 discusses, as a challenging example of how all that can be applied, to understand and prevent environmental destruction.

In Part I, Chapter 1 introduces the problems economics causes, not least environmental problems. Chapter 2 reviews recent and conventional thinking in economics - a plethora of proposals. Chapter 3 presents six perspectives from which we develop the rethink: everyday reality, embracing all views, a multi-aspectual philosophy of the world, a healthy a Christian and other religious perspective, an idea of Multi-aspectual Good, and our methodology of LACE. Embracing? Our rethink recognises valid insight and gross error in both capitalist and socialist economics, orthodox and heterodox, and treats them as part of the same picture.

What is in a Rethink? Pespectives that Guide Us

• A rethink needs a stance on how it treats the complexities of real-life economics and how authoritative it takes theory and academic material to be. We prioritise pre-theoretical experience over theories and rules, especially for evidence and input, but do so critically.

• A rethink will draw upon previous ideas, usually to incorporate or reject. Instead, we treat all ideas as offering some valid insight, yet also some falsehood. So we embrace recent and conventional, left- and right-wing, environmental and human, capitalist and socialist, ...

• A rethink presupposes some philosophical underpinnings. Our rethink emanates from Dooyeweerd's multi-aspectual philosophy and especially employs his suite of aspects as a conceptual tool for understanding diversity and coherence.

• A rethink takes a stance on the role of religion and ideology, most trying to ignore them or adopt them. We believe religion and ideology offer important insights for economics, but we clearly identify them, so that they do not dominate.

• A rethink presupposes some aim to which economics contributes. We believe economics should contribute to Multi-aspectual Overall Good.

• A rethink adopts a methodology towards engaging with extant ideas. We listen, affirm, critique, and enrich (LACE), in each of the topics we include within "economics"

Overview of Ten Chapters

Part 1: Introductory Chapters:

• Chapter 1. Introduction Summary: This chapter sets out the whats, whys and hows of this Rethink / Reformation of economics, so that readers can understand it more fully.
• Chapter 2. A Brief Overview of Recent and Conventional Thinking in Economics Summary: This chapter summarises a range of insights from recent thinkers, and perhaps also some conventional ideas from both left and right of economics. It ends with the need for an integrated picture and a way to detect other issues not yet widely discussed.
• Chapter 3. Perspectives We Employ in Our Rethink Summary: Six perspectives guide this rethink and make it possible: 1. Everyday life; 2. Embracing all ideas (left, right and recent); 3. Dooyeweerd's philosophical understanding of reality; 4. Christian/religious perspectives and the insights they bring; 5. Multi-aspectual Overall Good; 6. Engaging with extant ideas.

Part II - The Five Main Chapters

• Chapter 4. The Meaning, Mandate and Mindset of Economics Summary: Economics does not reflect enough on its place among other spheres of life. It is too isolated from them. We discuss the meaning and mandate of economics, its embeddedness among other spheres, and the mindset that tends towards isolation.
• Chapter 5. Value Summary: Economics does not know how to take full account of value beyond its sphere, such as of environment. This may be done systematically using Dooyeweerd's aspects.
• Chapter 6. Economic Activity as Human Functioning Summary: Economics does not have a strong enough understanding of functioning and repercussions, both human and non-human. Dooyeweerd's ideas offer a practical understanding of this.
• CHAPTER 7 - Good, Harmful and Useless Economic Functioning pdf Summary: Economics does not adequately differentiate harmful and useless from good economic activity. We discuss how this may be accomplished by reference to Multi-aspectual Good and Dooyeweerd's aspects.
• Chapter 8. Stakeholders, Levels and Money: Subjects and Objects in Economics Summary: Economics puts too much emphasis on entities instead of the Good that we are called to do, resulting in fragmentation, envy and greed. Dooyeweerd helps us avoid this by making meaningfulness the foundation.

Part III - Applying All That

• Chapter 9. Exemplar: How This Might Apply to Environmental Economics Summary: Environmental Economics can be affirmed, critiqued and enriched by following these principles.
• Chapter 10. Conclusion Summary: So What and What Now? - not yet tidy

Contents with Summaries

-- PART I - Introductory Chapters --

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. A Brief Overview of Recent and Conventional Thinking in Economics

2-1. Overview of Recent Ideas

Summary: Recent ideas on the economy and many and disparate, yet each contains important insights.

Summary: Conventional economics, both left- and right-wing, also offers value insights, though also many that are not valid. The valid insights contribute to understanding how the economic aspect of reality itself operates.

Summary:

Summary: We seek a framework for understanding economics as such. Instead of just responding to the above insights, we consider five main issues drawn from philosophy.

Chapter 3. Five Perspectives that Guide this Rethink

3-1. Respecting the Pre-theoretical Stance

Summary: We aim to respect the pre-theoretical stance of 'everyday' experience of the reality of economics, along with the theoretical stances that generate ideals and theories.

3-2. Our Philosophical Foundation: Dooyeweerd's Philosophy

Summary: Here we outline what readers will need of Dooyeweerd's philosophy in order to understand the Rethink.

• 3-2.1 Dooyeweerd on the Nature of Reality: Meaningfulness At Root Summary: Dooyeweerd viewed reality in terms of its meaningfulness, and this offers a fresh way of understanding much in economics.
• 3-2.2 Diversity and Complexity Summary: Diversity is founded in distinct modalities of meaning (aspects) that, together, yield countless types of thing, process, etc.
• 3-2.3 Dooyeweerd's Suite of Fifteen Aspects Summary: Dooyeweerd offers a philosophically grounded suite of 15 aspects, which we will use as our conceptual tool.
• 3-2.4 Using Dooyeweerd's Aspects as Conceptual Tool Summary: Dooyeweerd's suite of aspects offers a very useful and versatile conceptual tool because it enables us to clearly separate out issues and is a yardstick by which to detect ignored issues, in both theory and practice.
• 3-2.5 Characteristics of Aspects Summary: To employ Dooyeweerd's aspects we need to recognise their irreducibility, inter-dependency, normativity and a host of other characteristics.
  • 3-2.5.1 First, characteristics of aspects together Summary: Aspects together transcend us, are multiple, equally important, can be known, and enable time.
  • 3-2.5.2 Second, characteristics of individual aspects Summary: Each aspects individually is an irreducibly different sphere of meaning and law, are normative but are not absolute.
  • 3-2.5.3 Third, about relationships among aspects. Summary: Aspects relate by being irreducibly distinct, depending on each other, which implies an order, are never in conflict, and in which the meaning of each contains analogical echoes of others.
• 3-2.6 What Aspects Enable in Reality Summary: Reference to aspects help us understand things, properties, functioning, good and evil, etc. more deeply, because aspects make all these possible.
  • 3-2.6.1 What Aspectual meaningfulness enables Summary: Aspectual meaningfulness enables category, property, relationship, rationality, and being.
  • 3-2.6.2 What Aspectual Law enables Summary: Aspectual Law enables normativity, possibility, functioning, repercussion and knowing.
• 3-2.7 In More Detail Summary: More detail on good, evil, value and ethics, then on functioning and repercussions, then on attitude and mindset.
  • 3-2.7.1 More on good, evil, value and ethics Summary: Good, evil and value are inherent in Dooyeweerd's idea of aspects, not 'bolted on'. They are different for each aspect.
  • 3-2.7.2 On Functioning and repercussions Summary: All that occurs is multi-aspectual functioning with repercussions, both good and harmful. This helps us understand and guide economic activity at all levels.
  • 3-2.7.3 The functioning of attitude and mindset Summary: Two aspects, the ethical and pistic, will be found especially important in understanding the realities of economics, as the hidden influences of attitude and mindset.
• 3-2.8 The Economic Aspect Summary: Economics centres on the economic aspect; what does this imply for how we understand it?
  • 3-2.8.1 Kernel Meaning of the Economic Aspect Summary: The economic aspect makes respect for objects, value, limits, future-orientation and sustainability meaningful.
  • 3-2.8.2 Links with other aspects Summary: Many concepts in economics can be understood as meaningful in the economic and one or two other aspects.
  • 3-2.8.3 What we see via the economics aspect Summary: Viewing only through the lens of the economic aspect blinds us to issues meaningful in post-economic aspects.
• 3-2.9 Conclusion About Dooyeweerd Summary: Dooyeweerd's philosophy is a good philosophical foundation for rethinking economics, and his suite of aspects offers a useful conceptual tool, comprehensive, flexible and embracive.

3-3. Spiritual / Religious Perspectives

Summary: Christian, other religious and spiritual perspectives can offer insights that are usually overlooked in economics theory and practice, but which are important for a full understanding of economics, and especially to motivate and enable deep change rather than just discuss.

• 3-3.1 A Christian Economics? Summary: We do not seek a Christian Economics, but rather to bring valuable insights into economics from Christianity and other religions or spirituality.
• 3-3.2 Using Scripture Verses? Summary: Instead of using Scripture verses to dictate economic policy or theory, we look for deeper insights from religious / spirituality perspectives.
• 3-3.3 Religious / Spirituality Perspective 1: Holistic Viewpoint Summary: Most religions and general spirituality help us towards holistic, all-inclusive viewpoints.
• 3-3.4 Religious / Spirituality Perspective 2: Emphasis on Overlooked Values Summary: Religious and spirituality perspectives draw attention to values that are often overlooked, yet are important, in real economics.
• 3-3.5 Religious / Spirituality Perspective 3: Divine Authority Providing Normative Impetus Summary: A religious perspective adds a compelling motivation to act. Without it, the theoretical explanations and models found in a scientific field like economics remain sterile.
• 3-3.6 Judaic Perspective 1: Creator and Creation Summary: The Biblical idea that all is Created by the Divine has many useful implications for economics.
• 3-3.7 Judaic Perspective 2: The Role of Humankind Summary: Humankind is to 'shepherd' the rest of Creation with love and care and open up its potential - by science, technology, discourse, policy, etc. Heart attitude is central.
• 3-3.8 Jewish Perspective 3: Sin and Repentance Summary: The Jewish perspective offers the freedom-giving idea of sin and possibility of repentance.
  • 3-3.8.1 Sin Summary: The idea of sin is that Harm is not inherent in Creation but arises from evil human functioning.
  • 3-3.8.2 Individual and structural sin Summary: Corrupt heart and sinful, harmful activity occur at both individual and structural (societal) level, each reinforcing the other.
  • 3-3.8.3 Repentance Summary: Repentance is "I am / we are wrong and choose to change." I / we no longer blame others, even if they too are wrong. Economics needs to repent.
  • 3-3.8.4 Some grounds for hope Summary: Repentance makes hope possible in principle, including in economics and environment.
  • 3-3.8.5 Towards Repentance ? Summary: Major crises are often God's warnings, calling us to wake up and repent.
• 3-3.9 Christian Perspective 1: Change of Heart Summary: A Christian perspective offers a way of inner transformation to change the heart of people; salvation through Jesus Christ and the work of the Spirit of God.
• 3-3.10 Christian Perspective 2: Transforming Spheres of Life, Societies and Cultures Summary: A Christian perspective offers the hope of transforming spheres of life, including economics.
• 3-3.11 Christian Perspective 3: Fuller Grounds for Hope Summary: Grounds for hope are in God's action when we respond fully to God's call.
• 3-3.12 Concluding Remarks about Religions Perspectives Summary: Religious perspectives can contribute to economics theory and practice is at least nine ways, all of which need to be taken into account in a major Rethink.

3-4. Engaging With and Embracing All Ideas

Summary: In rethinking economics we try to engage fruitfully with, and embrace, all ideas, regardless of source. To do this, we need to understand how ideas arise.

• 3-4.1 A Methodology For Engaging With Ideas: LACE Summary: In order to engage sensitively with extant ideas, whether recent or conventional, we Listen, Affirm, Critique, Enrich (LACE).
• 3-4.2 Three Types of Theoretical Thinking Summary: 3-4.3 Practical Analysis Summary: Analysis involves abstracting from the real, and aspectual analysis can help avoid some of its pitfalls.
• 3-4.4 Aspectual Analysis Summary: Aspectual analysis involves Dooyeweerd's suite of aspects to identify how each element of a situation or text is meaningful, and it overcomes some problems frequently encountered in analysis.
• 3-4.5 Scientific Theory-Formation Summary: Scientific theory-formation requires appropriate reasoning from data. Each aspect offers an irreducibly distinct kind of rationality, all of which must be considered. Paradigms express meaningfulness of selected aspects.
• 3-5.6 Philosophical Reflection Summary: Philosophy reflects on the whole range of meaningfulness that makes all theories, analyses and even everyday life important. It is what enables us to understand paradigms and worldviews, and their emergence.
• 3-4.7 Why our thinking in economics is not neutral Summary: Analysis, theory-formation and philosophical reflection can never be neutral because of three fundamental characteristics of theoretical thinking.
• 3-4.8 For Academics: Are We Imposing an Overarching Framework? Summary: Dooyeweerd's suite of aspects is no overarching framework, but gives freedom to generate frameworks.
• 3-4.9 Conclusion of Embracing and Engaging Summary:

3-5. Multi-aspectual Overall Good

Summary: The notion of Multi-aspectual Overall Good brings together the fragments of what many recent thinkers have drawn attention to.

3-6. Conclusion

Summary: These five perspectives allow us to tackle a wide range of undertakings that make up economics.

-- PART II - Five Main Chapters --

Chapter 4. The Meaning, Mandate and Mindset of Economics

4-1. Views About Economics

Summary: How is economics defied and what are the weaknesses in these definitions? What Good can and should economics bring?

• 4-1.1 Incomplete Definitions of Economics Summary: Conventional definiitions of economic are insufficient; what insight may we glean from them? We propose another.
• 4-1.2 Multi-aspectual Overall Good Summary: Most discussions of economics implicitly presuppose some kind of Multi-aspectual Good aim for economics. We make this explicit.

4-2. The Meaning of Economics

Summary: Economics: so what? The meaning of economics is given by the economic aspect of reality closely linked with all other aspects, omitting none. With the help of Dooyeweerd, but going further, we discuss what unique, kernel meaning the economic aspect offers.

• 4-2.1 How to Discuss the Meaning of Economics Summary: Any question of meaning is best answered by reference to aspects (modalities of meaningfulness). To discuss the meaning of economics we first try to disclose the kernel meaningfulness of the economic aspect, and then bring in its links with all other aspects. Kernel meaning includes Good, norms, operations and links with other meanings.
• 4-2.2 Separating Out Meanings in Extant Ideas Summary: Extant definitions and other ideas about economics include a tangle of meanings that need to be separated out.
• 4-2.3 The Economic Aspect: Its Meaning-Kernel and Norm Summary: The meaning-kernel and norm of the economic aspect are what the economic aspect brings into reality: dignity, value, sustainability, frugality, etc.
• 4-2.4 The Economic Among Other Aspects Summary: The full meaning of economics involves the meaningfulness of all other aspects, and externalities need to be brought into the heart of economics.
• 4-2.5 Externalities Summary: Externalities may be understood as links to other aspects.
• 4-2.6 Embedded Economics Summary: Economics should not be isolated from other spheres of life but embedded among them, interwoven with them.
• 4-2.7 Micro and Macro Economics (and Meso, Global) Summary: Micro and macro economics (and other levels) may be understood as having different ranges as meaningful, and hence they may be integrated into one understanding.

4-3. The Mandate of/for Economics

Summary: What should economics aim to do in the world? Seldom is its mandate discussed. The mandate for economics is to help humanity manage what it deems resources with respect (frugally), so that, as we employ those resources we contribute towards Multi-aspectual Good.

• 4-3.1 On Mandates Summary: Mandates point to the future, are normative, and apply to both theory and practice.
• 4-3.2 The Mandate Specific to Economics Summary: The mandate for economics is to help humanity manage what it deems resources with respect (frugally), that are employed to better contribute towards Multi-aspectual Overall Good, without harm or waste.
• 4-3.3 The Role of Other Aspects in the Mandate of/for Economics Summary: Other aspects are important in the mandate of/for economics in both the responsibility of economics and in supporting economics.
• 4-3.4 Sub-mandates for Each Entity in Economics Summary: What is the mandate of national economies, economics science, money, banks, etc.?
• 4-3.5 Economic Growth Summary: Economic growth is not bad in itself but has become an evil because of selfish attitude and idolatrous mindset. In place of discussing questions of whether economic growth is good o bad, or how much growth to allow, we suggest several principles by which we may understand and manage it.

4-4. Mindset-Attitude in Economics

Summary: Sadly, economics is often isolated from other spheres of life, both in its theories and its practice, and by both many economists and also by those who use economics. This is society's mindset towards economics; it tends towards reductionism and idolatry, but needs to change to embeddedness.

• 4-4.1 Mindsets Summary: Mindsets are our functioning in the pistic aspect, as both individuals and societies. They range from valid and good to idolatrous, destructive. They deeply affect both theory and practice.
• 4-4.2 Valid Focus: The Science and Discipline of Economics Summary: In good science and discipline of economics, we focus on the econommic aspect in relation to others.
• 4-4.3 Undue Elevation of Economics Summary: Economics has been elevated above other spheres of life, especially by those who use it. This is unhealthy and needs to be rectified.
• 4-4.4 Reductionism Summary: Reductionism is when one aspect is presupposed as able to account for all else, and all other kinds of value are reduced to it.
• 4-4.5 Idolatry Summary: Idolatry treats the favoured thing, aspect or sphere of life as 'divine', with absolute authority over us. Economics is often an idol.
• 4-4.4 Toward Embedded, Humble, Embracive Economics Summary: Instead of being isolated from other spheres of life, arrogantly seeing itself as superior to them, and ignoring what is meaningful in other aspects, economics should see itself as embedded among them, humble, and embrace them.

4-5. Towards Embedded, Meaningful and Good Economics

Summary: To overcome problems in economics we need to explicitly recognise multi-aspectual meaning, a mandate towards Good and abandon a mindsets that elevate, isolate or idolise economics, by recognising every aspect explicitly in both practice and tneory.

Chapter 5. Value

5-1 Values and Economic Value

Summary: There are multiple, irreducibly distinct kinds of value. Economic value is only one kind and needs to be able to express all others faithfully.

Summary: Value has been variously understood. We link value of something to the Good in contributes, or could contribute, to Multi-aspectual Good. Dooyeweerd's aspects can help us understand the diversity of kinds of value.

• 5-2.1 Some Ideas about Value Summary: Different ideas about what value is. An integrating framework is needed.
• 5-2.2 Value and Multi-aspectual Good Summary: Value is contribution to Multi-aspectual Good. Harm, detracting from Multi-aspectual Good, is anti-value.
• 5-2.3 Aspects as Values Summary: Each aspect defines a distinct kind of value. They may be combined in multi-aspectual things or situations.

5-3 Economic Value And Aspectual Value

Summary: Economic value is the value of an object as resource that enables us to function with wisdom in contributing sustainably to Multi-aspectual Good.

Summary: Assessing value is a useful tool, but is complex and inherently distorts our understanding of real value, which need to be properly understood.

• 5-4.1 Questioning Assessment of Value Summary: What, why and how of assessing value.
• 5-4.2 Fundamental Limits and Dangers of Assessment Summary: Assessing value is inherently flawed and distorting, because of two main kinds of fundamental limitations.
  • 5-4.2.1 Limitations because of kind of thing being valued Summary: Different kinds of thing offer different kinds of assessment and challenges to doing so; Dooyeweerd's aspects can help us.
  • 5-4.2.2 Limitations because of the activity of assessing. Summary: The very activity of assessing ensures that our assessments are distorted, and never neutral, so we must be cautious.

• 5-4.3 Using Aspects in Assessment Summary: Aspects may be used to separate out issues, uncover hidden issues and deepen our understanding of issues.
• 5-4.4 Qualitative Assessment of Value Summary: Dooyeweerd's aspects can help with qualitative assessments.
• 5-4.5 Quantitative Assessment of Value Summary: Quantitative assessments are even more limited, but Dooyeweerd's aspects can help.
  • 5-4.5.1 Ways aspects can help Summary: Dooyeweerd's aspects can help quantitative assessment in at least three ways.
  • 5-4.5.2 Indices Summary: Many quantitative indices: GDP, HDI, GPI, etc. All are limited and some work against others.
  • 5-4.5.3 Price Summary: What exactly is wrong and right with price as a measure of value?

• 5-4.6 Value in the Specialised Economy: Labour and Use; Productivity and Capital Summary: Not sure yet what to say here, or even whether it is needed. Review our discussions to see.
  • 5-4.6.1 Value of Capital Summary: Capital gains its value from its potential to enable people to contribute to Multi-aspectual Good.
  • 5-4.6.2 Value of Labour Summary: The value of labour is of two types, both of which are important. The main one being indirect, in that labour produces goods and services that others use in functioning that contributes to Multi-aspectual Good. Labour also contributes directly from its own multi-aspectual functioning.

5-5. Applying The Above Ideas

Summary: Dealing with a few known issues can indicate how the above ideas can bring fresh insight.

• 5-5.1 Valuing Externalities Summary: Instead of labelling impact of economic activity on other spheres of life anonymously as "externalities", and considering their value only as they impact the economy, we value them directly.
• 5-5.2 The Value in Unpaid Activity Summary: Unpaid (household) activity has immense value, which should be brought into economics theory and practice. Dooyeweerd's aspects can help us understand its diverse value. To value only paid work brings many problems.
  • 5-5.2.1 Why unpaid activity must be valued Summary: Unpaid economic activity should be valued because it generates Good (or Harm) that needs to be taken into account, and also because it is often of higher quality than equivalent paid work.
  • 5-5.2.2 How to value unpaid economic activity Summary: The value of unpaid activity may be understood via Dooyeweerd's aspects, of which each is equally important.

• 5-5.4 Productivity Summary: Productivity is variously (mis)understood, but may be understood via aspectual contribution to Multi-aspectual Good.
• 5-5.5 GDP Summary: Adherence to GDP has caused many problems but it is not GDP itself that is the problem, but how it has been used and the attitude we have to it.
• 5-5.2 The Relationship Between Labour and Capital; Brief Critique of Marx's Ideas Summary:

5-6 Conclusions

Summary:

Chapter 6. Economic Activity as Multi-aspectual Functioning

6-1. Some Theory About Economic Activity

Summary: The range of theories about how we behave in economic activity is wide, though not wide enough, and rather fragmented. We suggest how Dooyeweerd offers a fuller and more integrated picture.

• 6-1.1 Mathematical Understanding of Economic Activity Summary:
• 6-1.2 Behavioral Economics Summary: Behavioral Economics offers some understanding on how other aspects impact economic activity, but it is fragmented and patchy in its coverage.
• 6-1.3 Limitations of Behavioral Economics Summary: Behavioral Economics brings in other aspects, it currently has several limitations, and we suggest how they might be tackled.
• 6-1.4 Other Theories Summary:
• 6-1.5 Macroeconomic Economic Activity Summary: Macroeconomics can be understood within the same framework as microeconomics, by recognising that whole economies also function in all aspects.

6-2. Economic Activity as Multi-aspectual Human Functioning

Summary: If we understand economic activity as multi-aspectual functioning led by the economic aspect, then we discover a systematic, integrative treatment that is able to embrace most extant theories, and also recognise unpaid activity.

• 6-2.1 Multi-aspectual Human Functioning Summary: Here we see examples of how all aspects are meaningful in any human activity, at any level, and how functioning in the economic aspect engages with that in others.
• 6-2.2 The Multi-aspectual Functioning that is Purchase Summary: Purchase and selling of goods, though primarily economic, is also inescapably multi-aspectual in nature.
• 6-2.3 At All Levels Summary: The multi-aspectual view is relevant at all levels of the economy.
• 6-2.4 Inter-aspect Dependencies in Economic Activity Summary: Functioning in the economic aspect depends on both earlier and later aspects.
• 6-2.5 Retrocipatory Impact and the Structures of Society Summary: Societal systems or structures impact economic activity for good or ill. They are not only juridical structures of government but also ethical and pistic structures. The aspectual perspective reveals their links with individual agency.

6-3. The Functioning of Mindset and Attitude in Economics

Summary: Mindset-attitude constitute a hidden societal structure that determines how we behave in economic activity. Because hidden, their effect is seldom discussed or understood, yet more important than most recognise. They may be understood as a combination of pistic and ethical functioning that retrocipatively impacts functioning in earlier aspects.

• 6-3.1 Mindset and Attitude as Pistic and Ethical Functioning Summary: Mindset and attitude are functioning in the pistic and ethical aspects.
• 6-3.2 Attitude Summary: Attitude can be either self-centred or self-giving, our functioning in the ethical aspect.
• 6-3.3 Mindset Summary: Mindset is largely our functioning in the pistic aspect, our identity and what we believe to be most meaningful.
• 6-3.4 Mindset and Attitude together Summary: Mindset and attitude usually reinforce each other for good or ill.
• 6-3.5 Towards a Good Mindset and Attitude Summary:
• 6-3.6 Changing Mindset-Attitude Summary: How can we change problematic mindsets or attitudes? Pistic and ethical problem requires pistic and ethical solution.

6-4. Some Comments on Adam Smith

Summary: A multi-aspectual understanding can throw fresh light on Adam Smith, especially his famous ideas of self-love and invisible hand.

• 6-4.1 Critiques of Smithian Economics Summary: Smith's ideas have been criticised from both within and outwith economics, and worldview (mindset) lies at the root of both critiques.
• 6-4.2 On Self-love Summary: What Smith meant by "self-love" might differ radically from the excusing of selfishness that most take it to mean.
• 6-4.3 On Invisible Hand Summary: Might Smith's idea of invisible hand refer to the fundamental laws of the economic aspect itself?
• 6-4.4 Our Comments on Adam Smith Summary: Three fundamental errors in Smith's thinking are revealed by recognising the importance of belief and diversity of meaning. Turning away from them lets us hear more clearly what Smith was really getting at.

6-5. Understanding Some Issues in Economics via Aspectual Functioning

Summary: This section demonstrates how the above understanding can help us rethink concepts, practices, paradoxes and problems in economics.

• 6-5.1 A Richer Understanding of Poverty and Inequality Summary: We redefine poverty to recognise all its aspects, not just numerical amounts of money. Similarly inquality. This will both enrich theory and make policy more successful.
• 6-5.2 Labour, Capital and Use Summary: Production and consumption, labouring that produces goods and services that are then used, are both multi-aspectual functioning that which might contribute to Multi-aspectual Good. Much conventional and even recent thinking either confuses them or focuses on one at the expense of the other.
• 6-5.3 Unpaid Activity Summary: Unpaid household work is usually ignored in economic calculations, which puts so-called LDNs at a disadvantage. A central focus on human functioning that contributes to Multi-aspectual Good automatically brings unpaid activity into the purview of economics, both theory and practice.
• 6-5.4 Jevons' Paradox: Efficiency Does Not Decrease Scarce Resource Consumption Summary: Jevons' Paradox, that more efficiency sometimes leads to more, not less, total consumption, may be resolved by understanding the aspectual functioning that is going on.
• 6-5.5 The Tragedy of the Commons and the Free-Rider Problem Summary: The roots of both the Tragedy of the Commons and the Free-Rider Problem are exposed, leading to ways to address them.
• 6-5.6 The Circular Economy Summary: The idea of circular economy is appealing and important, but its flaws have not yet been properly understood or addressed.
• 6-5.7 Marshall's Economics Summary: Marshall was bringing in multiple aspects - though not all.
• 6-5.8 Understanding Some Economics Phenomena by Aspects Summary: We are offered fresh insights into standard economics phenomena like investment, innovation, trade and aid, and competition.
• 6-5.9 Some Paradoxes in Economics Many paradoxes in economics may be resolved by understanding the importance of aspects that have been overlooked or confused.
  • 6-5.9.1 Jevons' Paradox: Efficiency Does Not Decrease Scarce Resource Consumption Summary: Jevons' Paradox, that more efficiency sometimes leads to more, not less, total consumption, may be resolved by understanding the aspectual functioning that is going on.

6-9. Conclusion on Functioning

Summary:

Chapter 7. Good, Harmful and Useless Economic Activity

7-1. The Difference Between Good, Harmful and Useless Economic Activity

Summary: What are Good, Harmful and Useless economic activity? Why there is a problem here?

• 7-1.1 Expressions of Concern Summary: Much recent discussion exposes the difference between Good and Harmful and Useless economic activity, yet does not offer adequate understanding.
• 7-1.2 Conflation and Confusion Summary: In most economics and theory and practice, especially in finance, Harmful and Useless economic activity are treated as Good. There is no basis for distinguishing them.
• 7-1.3 Some Examples Summary: Conflating Harmful with Good economic activity leads to many harmful externalities, as varied as junk food, species destruction and laziness.
• 7-1.4 Our Overall Approach to Differentiation Summary: We provide a basis for differentiating Harmful and Useless economic activity from Good.
• 7-1.5 Two Distinct yet Related Issues Summary: Harm and Uselessness of economic activity are different problems yet are related.

7-2. Good Versus Harm

Summary: On what basis to differentiate Harmful from Good economic activity, in both economics theory and practice?

• 7-2.1 Limitations in Current Discourse Summary: Current recognition of Harm in economics is inadequate.
• 7-2.2 Kinds of harm Summary: Dooyeweerd's aspects can help us understand Good and Harm more clearly and more deeply.
• 7-2.3 Understanding Harm Summary: How Harm operates - as repercussions of dysfunction in each aspect.
• 7-2.4 Harm to the Economy Summary: Dysfunction in other spheres returns to harm economic activity.
• 7-2.5 Mix of Good and Harm Summary: Harm and Good mix together, but Dooyeweerd's aspects help us untangle them.
• 7-2.6 Harm in Labour and Use Summary: Labour and use generate Harm or Good via different routes.
• 7-2.7 The Role of Mindset-Attitude Summary: Mindset and attitude are often the ultimate and deepest root of Harm and route to Good.
• 7-2.8 Concluding Remarks about Harm and Good Summary: Harmful economic activity can be differentiated from Good by understanding all aspects thereof.

7-3 Good versus Useless Economic Activity

Summary: Useless economic activity is of two types, unproductiveness and production of non-essentials, and both should be discouraged and reduced.

• 7-3.1 Why Useless Economic Activity is Problematic
• 7-3.2 Unproductive Economic Activity Summary: Unproductive economic activity is a waste and has opportunity costs.
• 7-3.3 What is (Un)productivity? Summary: There is little agreement on what (un)productivity is, so we need a way of understanding it.
• 7-3.4 Non-essentials Summary: Many goods and services, especially in affluent economies, are non-essential and should be discouraged rather than encouraged.
• 7-3.4 What are non-essentials? Summary: Understanding non-essentials.
• 7-3.5 Challenges of Identifying Non-essentials Summary: It is not easy to clearly distinguish essentials from non-essentials, for several reasons. Dooyeweerd's aspects can help us do so.
• 7-3.6 Why Useless Economic Activity Occurs Summary: Useless economic activity arises from a number of factors, some meaningful in the economic aspect, some because of undue elevation of an aspect, and some from mindset-attitude.

7-4. Assessing Good, Harmful and Useless Economic Activity

Summary: Some guidance on how to assess Good, Harmful and Useless separately.

• 7-4.1 A Quick Empirical Calculation of Amount of Harmful and Useless Economic Activity Summary: The amount of harmful and useless economic activity in the UK is surprisingly high.
  • 7-4.1.1 How much useless economic activity in the UK economy? Summary: About three quarters of the UK economy is Useless (and may be lost without much pain).
  • 7-4.1.2 How much harmful economic activity in the UK economy? Summary: Nearly four fifths of the UK economy does Harm (and should be removed).
  • 7-4.1.3 Combining these Summary: Taking both Useless and Harmful figures together should make us think carefully.

• 7-4.2 Preparatory Aspectual Analysis Summary: Some steps of aspectual analysis to prepare for qualitative and quantitative assessment.
• 7-4.3 Qualitative Methods for Assessing Harm and Good Summary: Harm versus Good may be assessed by several methods, both qualitative and quantitative.
• 7-4.4 Quantitative Assessment of Good and Harm Summary: There are various quantitative ways to assess Good and Harm in or by the economy.
• 7-4.5 Towards a Multi-aspectual Index of National Wellbeing Summary: A national index of wellbeing could in principle be compiled by adding together value that is meaningful in each aspect.
• 7-4.6 Assessing Useless Economic Activity Summary: Several practical tips on assessing Useless economic activity.
• 7-4.7 Assessing Juridical, Ethical and Pistic Structures Summary: How to assess soceital structures that bend societies and economies towards the Harmful and Useless.
• 7-4.8 GDP: An Initial Proposal Summary: GDP may be redefined in a way that subtracts Harmful economic activity,

7-5. Action to Reduce Harm, Discourage Useless and Increase Good

Summary: What changes are needed to bring into economics the distinction between Good, Harmful and Useless economic activity?

• 7-5.1 Radical and Incremental Changes Summary: We need both radical and incremental changes, not one or the other.
• 7-5.2 Economic Planning Around Harmful and Useless Economic Activity Summary: Economic planning should aim to increase Good, prevent or rectify Harmful and reduce Useless economical activity.
  • 7-5.2.1 Economic planning without aspects Summary: Calculating amounts of Harmful or Useless economic activity against Good, can help planners prioritise actions or policy-makers, their policies.
  • 7-5.2.2 Economic planning using aspects Summary: Using aspects we can make more specific economic plans and policies.

• 7-5.3 Economic Aspect Action: Saving, taxes, Incentives and Subsidies Summary: Saving, taxes, incentives and subsidies take on a different aura when we consider aspects.
• 7-5.4 Psychical, Analytical and Formative Aspect Action: Behavioural Methods
• 7-5.6 Lingual Aspect Action: Information, Education and Persuasion
• 7-5.7 Social Aspect Action:
• 7-5.5 Juridical Aspect Action: Policy and Responsibility Summary: Responsibility is important in planning.
• 7-5.8 Ethical and Pistic Aspects Action: Change of Heart Attitude-Mindset Summary: Attitude and mindset (heart) are even more important to take into account in economic planning.
• 7-5.9 Integrated Change Summary: In economic planning, we need to keep all aspwcts in mind together.
• 7-5.10 The Normative Practices Approach Summary: ===== to be written.
• 7-5.11 Conclusion of Actions Summary: =====

7-6 Some Issues in Economics

Summary: We show how understanding the difference between Good, Harmful and Useless can be applied to various economics issues.

• 7-6.1 Monopoly and Innovation Summary: ===== to be written
• 7-6.2 Competition and Competitiveness Summary: Competitiveness is a Harm not a Good, and should not be put at the root of the Economy.
• 7-6.3 Trickle-Down Economics Summary: Trickle-Down Economics, that money made available to the wealthy ends up helping the poor, is argued for or against. Instead, we try to understand the deeper reasons why it does not currently work well, but might have some validity. This is a worked example of the above thinking.

7-7. Conclusion

Summary: ===== to be written

Chapter 8. Entities and Stuff in Economics

8-1. Entity-Oriented Thinking and Its Problems

Summary: Entity-orientation, which is rife in most fields including economics, presupposes existence as such rather than existence-as. Though it is a fundamental philosophical problem, it has generated a dozen problems in economics.

Summary: Dooyeweerd suggests we understand being and things via meaningfulness, so that existence is existence-as-X, where X is an aspect. This offers a richer understanding.

• 8-2.1 Being and Meaning Summary: Most Western philosophy adopts an Immanence Standpoint, in which meaningfulness and normativity are divorced from being. Dooyeweerd roots being in meaningfulness, and normativity becomes inherent.
• 8-2.2 Aspectual Structure of Things Summary: Types of things are defined by profiles of aspects that play a necessary role in being of that type of thing. This enriches our understanding.
• 8-2.3 Structural Relationships: Part-whole and Enkapsis Summary: Whereas things are made of parts, part-whole is not the only type of relationship. If we reduce them to part-whole, we become confused.
• 8-2.4 Relationships in Functioning: Subject and Object Summary: Things function as subject and/or object in various aspects, often mixed. This offers a useful enrichment of the well-known subject-object relationship.
• 8-2.4 Causal Relationships and Stakeholders Summary: Stakeholders of economic systems or activity are either affecteds or affectees, and this might vary across aspects.
• 8-2.6 Concluding Remarks about Dooyeweerd's understanding of Things Summary: Dooyeweerd's understanding of things offers richness and overcoming the Is-Ought dichotomy.

8-3. Addressing the Problems

Summary: The dozen problems arising from entity-orientation discussed earlier may be addressed and maybe resolved by this new understanding of entities.

Summary: Microeconomics, macroeconomics, global economics, etc. are levels that need integrating into a single framework. Dooyeweerd can offer such a framework: each level is a functioning in different main aspects, which also defines its main responsibility for bringing Overall Good.

• 8-5.1 The Problem Summary: Traditionally, economics is divided into micro and macro levels, but other levels exist, and many want to understand how levels all relate to each other.
• 8-5.2 Main principle: Summary: At each level, different sets of aspects are important. Since they are from the same set of aspects, we can expect integration is possible without denaturing any level. And new levels might emerge.
• 8-5.3 Operationalizing an Aspectual Understanding of Levels Summary: The above theoretical view can be operationalized.
• 8-5.4 Example of Multi-Level Analysis: The UK Dairy Industry Summary:

8.9 Chapter Conclusion <

-- PART III - Going Forward --