Johnston,
Carol. "Whiteheadian Perspective on Global
Economics." Ed. Zang, Yanyang. Hebie, China: Hebie University Press,
2003. 470-488.
Abstract
Current capitalist economic theory (neoclassical economics) claims to
be "value-free". According to this view, economics operations according
to basic "laws", such as that of supply and demand, and these are
simply the way the world works. Global capitalism has a model of
economics based on these supposedly value-free laws, and is rapidly
moving to change the whole world to conform to this model.
A thesis of this paper is that economics is not value-free at all.
Embedded in the economic model are assumptions about human nature and
about the world and consequent value choices that govern global
economics. Human nature is assumed to be individualistic (and in
practice, if not in theory, hedonistic). The world is mechanistic and
atomistic, and exists solely for the use of human individuals. This
brings us to the key value choice of capitalism: that the only
recognizable good is individual choice. Finally, the goal of all
this-and so the ultimate value and purpose of economics-is unlimited
growth in economic production.