Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Utility: In philosophy, the term utility or “benefit” refers to an advantageous or valuable result or advantage that arises from a particular action, situation, or circumstance. The term is often considered in ethical or consequentialist contexts. In economics, the term is related to decisions and opportunities. See also Decision theory, Rational choice, Public choice, Opportunity cost._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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James M. Buchanan on Utility - Dictionary of Arguments
Boudreaux I 54 Utility/Buchanan/Boudreaux/Holcombe: Value and utility are subjective concepts, (...) so there is no way to compare the well-being of some individuals against the well-being of others. It would be illegitimate to say that if some public policy benefits person A more than it harms person B, the policy is in the public interest. The utility of A cannot be compared to the utility of B, so policies that harm some for the benefit of others cannot be said to be in the public interest. Boudreaux I 55 Comparability: Even if comparisons of utility between individuals could be made, it would still be illegitimate to base public policy on such comparisons, because those policies restrict the liberty of some individuals to further the interests of others. To take an extreme example, if individual A would gain more utility from owning a slave than person B would lose from being a slave, this would not justify person A enslaving person B. To take a less extreme example but one that often forms the basis of public policy, if taking a dollar from A to give to B would give B more utility than A would lose, this fact alone does not justify taking the dollar from A and giving it to B. >Slavery, >Comparisons, >Comparability. Market: The virtues of market exchange over political decision-making become more evident when taking this individualistic approach. Market exchanges make all participants better off, which enhances social welfare because these enhance the welfare of all parties to the exchanges. In contrast, political decision-making often imposes costs on some for the benefit of others. As the previous chapter discussed, political action carries with it a built-in externality, so there is no guarantee that it advances social welfare. >Decision-making/Buchanan, >Social welfare/Buchanan, >Utility._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
EconBuchan I James M. Buchanan Politics as Public Choice Carmel, IN 2000 Boudreaux I Donald J. Boudreaux Randall G. Holcombe The Essential James Buchanan Vancouver: The Fraser Institute 2021 Boudreaux II Donald J. Boudreaux The Essential Hayek Vancouver: Fraser Institute 2014 |
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