A Critical Approach to Critiquing Economics

The critique of mainstream economics and its damaging role in bringing about the ecological is based on a number of misconceptions: about the relation between economic inquiryEconomic Inquiry and economic phenomena; about exact use and understanding of homo economicusHomo Economicus within economicsEconomics; and about the usefulness of some economic tools Economicsin addressing some of the harms Economicsthat economic science is accused of causing. There is nonetheless scope for improvements to be made to the discipline, particularly in the area of normative considerations which are usually understood all too narrowly. Overall, however, despite some objections, we argue that economic discipline equips us in useful tools to combat the harms that humanity and our habitat are suffering.