A forceful critique of the social science that has ruled—and damaged—the modern world. 

The practice of economics, as economists will tell you, is a powerful force for good. Economists are the guardians of the world’s economies and financial systems. The applications of economic theory can alleviate poverty, reduce disease, and promote sustainability. 

While this narrative has been successfully propagated by economists, it belies a more challenging truth: economic interventions, including those economists deem successful, also cause harm. Sometimes the harm is manageable and short-lived. But just as often the harm is deep, enduring, and even irreparable. And too often the harm falls on those least able to survive it. 

In The Tragic Science, George F. DeMartino says what economists have too long repressed: that economists do great harm even as they aspire to do good. Economist-induced harm, DeMartino shows, results in part from economists’ “irreparable ignorance”—from the fact that they know far less than they tend to believe they know—and from disciplinary training that treats the human tolls of economic policies and interventions as simply the costs of promoting social betterment. DeMartino details the complicated nature of economic harm, explores economists’ frequent failure to recognize it, and makes a sobering case for professional humility and for genuine respect for those who stand to be harmed by economists’ practice.

At a moment in history when the economics profession holds enormous power, DeMartino’s work demonstrates the downside of its influence and the responsibility facing those who practice the tragic science.

George F. DeMartino is professor of international economics at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. His most recent books include The Economist’s Oath: On the Need for and Content of Professional Economic Ethics and The Oxford Handbook of Professional Economic Ethics. He has published widely on the normative aspects of economic theory and policy. 

Preface

Part I: The Tragic Science
Chapter 1. The Tragedy of Economics
Chapter 2. Economic Paternalism, Heroic Economics
Chapter 3. Harm’s Complexity

Part II: The Origins of Econogenic Harm
Chapter 4. The Unevenness of Econogenic Impact
Chapter 5. The Specter of Irreparable Ignorance
Chapter 6. Counterfactual Fictions in Economic Explanation and Harm Assessment

Part III: Economic Moral Geometry
Chapter 7. Managing Harm via Economic Moral Geometry
Chapter 8. Moral Geometry: An Assessment
Chapter 9. Beyond Moral Geometry: Interests, Social Harm, Capabilities

Part IV: Confronting Econogenic Harm Responsibly
Chapter 10. Economic Harm Profile Analysis
Chapter 11. Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty
Chapter 12. Conclusion: From Reckless to Responsible Economics
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index