Nell (1975)
Rational Economic Man: A Philosophical Critique of NeoClassical Economics, Cambridge University Press, London.
To use an extreme example, with only the
rational economic man model of human nature, it is not possible to utter a moral condemnation of murderers.
Hewitson, Feminist Economics: Interrogating the Masculinity of
Rational Economic Man, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1999.
First, leading economists such as Smith, Ricarrdo, Marx, Keynes, Hayek, Simon, and Coase, all failed to incorporate the standard picture of '
rational economic man' in their writings and expressed profound misgivings about his behavior.
(1975),
Rational Economic Man -- A Philosophical Critique of Neo-classical Economics, Cambridge University Press, London.
According to conventional wisdom, neither naturalism nor holism can be applied to economics, for the core of economics, the theory of the
rational economic man, is ruthlessly individualistic, and few if any economic theories are well-confirmed or provide causal explanations of economic events.
She finds neoclassical economics antithetical to feminist analysis: "To twist one of neoclassical economics' most popular metaphors, the theory's invisible hand has kept a very tight grip - if not a stranglehold - on the credibility of feminist explanations of women's unequal status in the marketplace of economic ideas." In essence, the theory holds that everyone acts in his [sic] own self-interest, as a so-called "
rational economic man," making rational choices within constraints (such as the current distribution of income), in order to maximize utility (as consumers) or profits (as business owners).
50-60; Partha Dasgupta, An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994); "
Rational Economic Man: The Human Factor," The Economist, December 24, 1994, pp.
Among those myths which need dispelling is the popular contention of the profit motive as the sole or dominating motivation factor directing business activity and the
rational economic man model of human nature.
