Profit-Making is Different Than Profit-Maximizing
by Ulrich Thielemann Feb 23rd, 2015
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/02/23/18768947.php
Discussions of jobs and the economy are often marked by trivialization, distortion, unreality and wishful thinking. The neoliberal model promotes profits, not investments and rationalization and digitalization lead to mass unemployment. Most created jobs are temporary and precarious. People trust in the myths of the self-healing market, efficient financial markets and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. System analysis and market failure are usually glossed over. All personal achievement depends on state investment in roads, schools, hospitals, airwaves, food safety and water quality. Alternative critical economics emphasizes reducing working hours, person-oriented work, labor-intensive investment, community centers and exchanging roles
PROFIT-MAKING IS DIFFERENT THAN PROFIT-MAXIMIZING
ULRICH THIELEMANN ON INTEGRATIVE ECONOMIC ETHICS
[This Wikipedia post is translated from the German on the Internet, http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrich_Thielemann. Ulrich Thielemann is director of the MeM think tank on economic ethics in Berlin and author of “System Error” and many provocative articles on economic ethics.]
Even before my university study, the intuition creeped over me that the market cannot be the solution to all social problems. Today I would say the “market mechanism” that appears so “peaceable” and generally advantageous is not fit to be the highest moral principle though this status is ascribed by many economists.
