Sedlacek's book on the Economics of Good and Evil is a thoughtful and largely readable attempt to place economics and ethics in the framework within which he claims they have always been, that is, the framework of moral philosophy. This issue becomes critical in our modern day American capitalist environment, deriving from the neo-liberal philosophies of the Chicago School, espoused by Milton Friedman, who believed that economics was a morally neutral science that describes the world as it is, not as it should be. This view placed Adam Smith's Capitalism in a realm where individual self interest should naturally be left to play out in a realm unfettered by government regulation. Friedman's search for Smith's "invisible hand" that would inevitably harness greed for the betterment of society, sent his students at Chicago on a quest for the underlying Newtonian laws of economics, which they believe underlie this invisible hand. They have never found them and have been rewarded in their efforts only by numerous statistical models.
Sedlacek's sense that the interweaving of ethics and economics is as old as recorded history begins with civilization's oldest extent written document, The Epic of Gilagmesh, in which Gilgamesh is found building a wall around his city, employing workers laboring under the most dire conditions of existence. At the end of the story, Gilgamesh abandons this effort, realizing the the search for happiness within the realm of human friendship is more important than wall building drudgery. This foundation points Sedlacek's survey forward to include surveys of Greek, Jewish and Christian economic philosophies, moving inexorably to the time of Adam Smith and beyond, culminating in Fukuyama's faith, in his "End of History", in the climactic victory of democratic capitalism as the final form of world government. Even in Adam Smith, who was a moralist before he was an economist, Sedlacek clearly points out that moral concerns enter into Smith's "Wealth of Nations", a reality with which the economic moral neutralists have found it difficult to deal.
For all those readers who are concerned with the current political and moral conflict between defenders and critics of the current growing economic inequality in the U.S., an issue, which will undoubtably affect the outcome of the 2012 Presidential election, the reading of Sedlacek's book is a must. It is not always an easy go in reading, but it is a lot more readable and enjoyable than many philosophical surveys. I highly recommend it.
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Jacob Joekansky
Poor Binding for the Hardcover. Save your money and buy the paperback.
Reviewed in Canada on April 6, 2022
Graham Mummery
Restoring the deep soul to economics
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2012
David J James
Translation reasonable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 1, 2013