Economics for Humanity (eBook)

Economics is often referred to as "e;the queen of social sciences."e; This is because mainstream economics has been established as an elegant academic discipline by assuming mankind simply to be homo economicus- an image of human beings showing interest in only material fulfilment and acting solely in his interest. This book challenges this basic perception of human beings.By replacing it with a more realistic and multifaceted human motive as supported by research in various academic disciplines, the book tries to provide a novel and more plausible picture of human society. Specifically, the book takes in such human aspects as pursuing well-being, forming human networks, and the realisation of potential of ability. Thus, if we try to better understand human motives and the society, it becomes necessary to replace the conventional two-sector (market-government) social model with a more general and theoretically superior social model, the "e;three-sector model"e; consisting of market-government-non-profit sectors. This book demonstrates the validity of this new view by utilising basic principles of economic policy and social welfare analyses. Moreover, the book has introduced a newly developing practical philosophy in Japan over the last 50 years to achieve both individual well-being and better human society.