Showing papers by "Amartya Sen published in 2016"

Destitution: A Discourse'

Abstract: T WO HUNDRED and seventeen years after Adam Smith's publication, An Inquiry Into the Wealth of Nations, comes Partha Dasgupta's An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution, which apparently is intended to be equally broad-ranging. Smith identified two forces that regulated the level of per caput consumption in any nation, the first being "the skill, dexterity and judgment with which its labor is generally applied," and the second being "the proportion between the number of those who are employed in useful labour and that of those who are not so employed." He distinguished sharply between "savage nations of hunters and fishers" from "civilized and thriving nations." Although in the former "every individual who is able to work is more or less employed in useful labour," most "are so miserably poor, that from mere want, they are frequently reduced, or, at least, think themselves reduced, to the necessity of sometimes destroying and sometimes of abandoning their infants, their old people, and those afflicted with lingering diseases, to perish with hunger or to be devoured by wild beasts" (Smith 1937, pp. lviilviii). In contrast, in the latter nations,

Prediction and economic theory

Abstract: The role of prediction in economics involves a fundamental tension. On the one hand, much of economics is concerned with prediction. On the other, economic predictions are notoriously unreliable. It is, in fact, tempting to see the economist as the trapeze-performer who tends to miss the cross-bar, or as the jockey who keeps falling off his horse. Whether or not such characterization is fair, there can be no doubt that the nature and genesis of this fundamental tension, and its implications, do call for systematic analysis and assessment. The aim of this paper is to attempt a brief examination of these issues. There is a sequence of questions to be faced. How central is prediction to economics ? Why are economic predictions so difficult ? What techni­ques does economic theory use to cope with these difficulties ? Are these techniques sound ? How does economic theory relate to practice ? I shall take up these questions in turn.

On the Darwinian View of Progress

Abstract: IT IS NOW A CENTURY AND A THIRD since the publication in 1859 of Darwin's On the Origin of Species. In this period the view of evolutionary progress introduced by Darwin has radically altered the way we think about ourselves and the world in which we live. Very few events in the history of ideas can be compared in terms of power, reach, and impact with the emergence of the Darwinian analysis of progress through evolution. There are, however, several distinct components in the Darwinian understanding of evolutionary progress, and it is possible that the profundity of some of the elements may make us less conscious of the dubious nature of others. In particular, Darwin's general idea of progress-on which his notion of evolutionary progress is dependent-can have the effect of misdirecting our attention, in ways that are crucial in the contemporary world. It can be argued that there are three distinct components in the Darwinian analysis of evolutionary progress: (1) an explanation of how evolution works; (2) an idea of what constitutes progress; and (3) a substantiation of the way evolution brings about progress. Of these three, the first is thoroughly profound both in interpreting what is going on in the world and in opening up a powerful general line of reasoning, viewing change and transformation in terms of evolution and natural selection. Exacting questions can of course be raised about the aptness of the particular processes on which Darwin himself concentrated, and there are other divisive questions as well. For example, an important issue concerns whether the analysis should be conducted in terms of selection of species (and the corresponding phenomenal characteristics) or of genotypes (and the related genetic features). It is often more convenient to talk in terms of species (as Darwin did), but natural selection is transmitted through inherited characteristics and that relates to

Derechos humanos y valores asiáticos

Abstract: The author discusses the ways in which two normative concepts, individual freedom and political liberty, are different and complementary. From this starting point he tries to show the similarities rather than the discrepancies between Asian and Western cultural traditions with the aim of fostering mutual understanding. Thus, he does not point to the disagreements said to exist between them, specially the Asian defense of order and the state in contrast to pluralism and human rights, so valued by the western enlightenment. On the contrary, he emphasizes that in the Asian tradition, so rich, varied and complex, there can also be discerned the existence of a line of defense of individual freedom that, although it cannot be confused with political liberty, nevertheless advances the possibility of its realization.

Amartya Sen's Utopia

Abstract: The present work is in many ways more ambitious than the monograph on economic inequality that he had published some 20 years ago.' Although he had already shown his interest in larger philosophical issues, that book was more narrowly addressed to problems in the measurement of economic inequality. Its argument was presented in a more formal style, and it had too many equations and diagrams to hold the attention of the general reader. This work is presented in a more mature and accommodating style, and, although nobody should regard it as bedside reading, it will undoubtedly have a wider appeal than the earlier one.

Happiness and social institutions

Abstract: Offering a thorough assessment of the recent developments in the economic literature on happiness and quality of life, this Handbook astutely considers both methods of estimation and policy application. The expert contributors critically present in-depth research on a wide range of topics including culture and media, inequality, and the relational and emotional side of human life. Accessible and far-reaching, it will prove an invaluable resource for students and scholars of welfare and economics.