The Scope Of Economics And Related Questions: The Peschian View

There is widespread confusion among economists about the scope and nature of economics, and its relation to ethics. Some economists go so far as to agree with "the famous remark attributed to professor Jacob Viner that economics is what economists do " (Boulding, 1958, p.l), thus implying that discussion on the nature and scope of economics is not necessary. In most undergraduate classes, Robbins's definition of economic science as "the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and means which have alternative uses " (Robbins, 1935, p. 16) is presented as the only possible definition. Furthermore, economics is presented as a science only in reference to its positive statements. Normative economic statements "reflect an opinion, and an opinion is merely that—it cannot be shown to be true or false by reference to the facts " (McEachern, 1994, p. 12). In summary, "what is " is properly a subject of economic science, but "what should be " is a com-pletely subjective affair. After some reflection on Robbins's definition, one could conclude that eco