The standard economic text¬book is based on the concept that every man is a ‘rational economic being’. The ‘rational economic being’ is defined as one who assiduously pursues his self-interest. These atoms (individuals) constituting society, together influence the economic variables at the macro level. Based on this assumption, the free market mechanism leads to a socially desirable situation (including the corresponding price struc-ture). But the standard econo¬mic text-book’s definition of social desirability does not take into account the ethical aspects arising out of inter¬personal comparisons of satis¬faction. It also ignores the alternative socio-economic mechanisms other than the market e.g., cultural developments of individuals towards alternative social states— voting procedures, caste codes being some of the other aggre¬gation procedures. Amartya Sen has been writing his critiques of standard text¬book material for the last two decades. The result is this col¬lection of twenty essays with an important introduction. Sen starts by arguing against the behaviouralists’ position: that the laws of the market can be deduced by assuming consistent behaviour on the part of the individual.
Sept-Oct 1983, volume 8, No 2