Bourgeois Virtue and the History of P and S

Bourgeois Virtue and the History of P and S

Since the triumph of a business culture a century and half ago the businessman has been scorned, and so the phrase “bourgeois virtue” sounds like an oxymoron. Economists since Bentham have believed that anyway virtue is beside the point: what matters for explanation is Prudence. But this is false in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of economic history Vol. 58; no. 2; pp. 297 - 317
Main Author: McCloskey, Deirdre N.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01-06-1998
New York University Press for the Economic History Association
Subjects:
Aristocracy
Bourgeois
Bourgeois society
Businesspeople
Capitalism
Classical economics
Courage
Economic history
Economics
Executives
History
Morality
Persuasion
Prudence
Values
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Summary:Since the triumph of a business culture a century and half ago the businessman has been scorned, and so the phrase “bourgeois virtue” sounds like an oxymoron. Economists since Bentham have believed that anyway virtue is beside the point: what matters for explanation is Prudence. But this is false in many circumstances, even strictly economic circumstances. An economic history that insists on Prudence Alone is misspecified, and will produce biased coefficients. And it will not face candidly the central task of economic history, an apology for or a criticism of a bourgeois society.
Bibliography:PII:S0022050700020520
ArticleID:02052
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ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0022-0507
1471-6372
DOI:10.1017/S0022050700020520