Philosophy and Economics

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

After the French revolution a complete free market system was introduced. Soon, deficiencies of a complete free market were discovered, like lack of sufficient food and healthcare for the poor. Marx and communism threw out the free-market system and advocated and installed a state-controlled economy. The West kept the free market but introduced the idea of merit goods, i.e., goods that are so important that the government can interfere with the free market, like education. In this course, we will study the defense of the free market by Adam Smith but also the arguments for a role of the government in a free market, starting with the ideas of Keynes. We will discuss the growing number of merit goods that were introduced in the West ranging from Bank controls to rules for protecting the environment to rules protecting national security after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.