Book contents
- Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values
- Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Revisiting the History of Welfare Economics
- Part I Plurality of Welfare in the Making of Welfare Economics
- 1 Ruskin’s Romantic Triangle
- 2 Radicalism versus Ruskin
- 3 Alfred Marshall on Progress and Human Wellbeing
- 4 Pigou’s Welfare Economics Revisited
- 5 To Which Kind of Welfare Did Léon Walras Refer?
- 6 Value Judgement within Pareto’s Economic and Sociological Approaches to Welfare
- Part II Developing Modern Welfare Economics
- Index
- References
2 - Radicalism versus Ruskin
Quality and Quantity in Hobson’s Welfare Economics
from Part I - Plurality of Welfare in the Making of Welfare Economics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 March 2021
By
Book contents
- Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values
- Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Revisiting the History of Welfare Economics
- Part I Plurality of Welfare in the Making of Welfare Economics
- 1 Ruskin’s Romantic Triangle
- 2 Radicalism versus Ruskin
- 3 Alfred Marshall on Progress and Human Wellbeing
- 4 Pigou’s Welfare Economics Revisited
- 5 To Which Kind of Welfare Did Léon Walras Refer?
- 6 Value Judgement within Pareto’s Economic and Sociological Approaches to Welfare
- Part II Developing Modern Welfare Economics
- Index
- References
Summary
Hobson’s mature welfare economics was less a product of Oxford liberalism than of a radical tradition going back to Paine. However, Hobson also strove to express that radicalism in qualitative terms, and here was more strongly influenced by the illiberal Ruskin, whose inspiration was pre-capitalist, than by liberal predecessors. By 1900, Ruskin was frequently interpreted in a socialist manner: the task Hobson set himself was to show that Ruskin’s insights were compatible with his version of New Liberalism. The outcome, with its stress on quality rather than quantity, was distinctly different from the liberal orthodoxy that established itself in his lifetime.
Keywords
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- Information
- Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical ValuesRevisiting the History of Welfare Economics, pp. 58 - 76Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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