Volume 6, No. 1 (Spring 2003)
Ethics and economics need to learn from one another. But what is it, precisely, that needs to be learned? Here Yeager’s answer is more controversial; he defends what might be called Austro-utilitarianism (the term is mine, not his), i.e., a version of utilitarianism informed by the concerns of the Austrian School and squarely in the tradition of Mises, Hazlitt, and Hayek, with a particular emphasis on the conditions for successful social cooperation. Yeager’s book makes an impressive case for an attractive Austro-utilitarian version of consequentialist moral theory, and replies convincingly to a number of common objections to and misunderstandings of utilitarianism in general. Nevertheless, I am inclined to resist his conclusions.
