ISBN: 3540443185
TITLE: Economics and Ethics 1
AUTHOR: Krelle
TOC:

1 The Theory of the Household 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Classification of Decisions and of Principles to Rate Them 2
1.3 Private Decisions of Moral Importance 3
1.4 Moral Standards and the Determination of Moral Evaluations of a Decision 11
1.5 A Digression: Explanation of the Transfer Probabilities 18
1.6 The Length of the Economic Horizon 20
1.7 The Relative Frequencies of Personal Decisions 20
1.8 Uncertainty on the Consequences of Decisions 22
1.9 Evaluations in Case of Interdependent Decisions 25
1.10 The General Theory of Household Behavior 31
1.11 Some Further Remarks on Household Theory 38
1.12 Entrepreneurship, Confidence and Trustworthiness 49
1.13 Income and Expenditure of a Household.
Some Definitional Relations 51
Annex to Section 1.13: Some Details on Income and Expenditure of a Household 52
1.14 Normal Economic Decisions of Private Households and the Budget Constraint 55
Annex to Section 1.14: Some Details on Normal Economic Decisions of Private Households and on the Budget Constraint 56
1.15 Consumption and Saving of Private Households 62
1.16 Morality and Criminality in a Society and Their Effect on the Economy 68
1.17 Private Valuations of Collective Issues 70
1.18 Transition to the Next Period: Change of Issues 72
1.19 Collective Decisions 73
1.20 Determination of the Leading Group and of the Influence of Each Person within the Group 75
1.21 Transition to the Next Period: Change of Government 78
1.22 Digression 1: The Interaction of the Spiritual Domain and Economics 81
1.23 Digression 2: The Connection to Sociology and Political Science 85
1.24 The Direct Influence of Ethics on Normal Economic Decisions. A Short Review and Preview 87
1.25 The Conditional Sales or Purchases of Capital Stock and Securities 88
1.26 A Digression: Fixing of the Rates by the Brokers 108
1.27 The Assignment of Households to Decision Situations 109
1.28 The Household Demand as a Function of the Situation of the Economy and of the Characteristics of the Household 111
1.29 A Final Remark: Convergence of Evaluations 116
1.30 Epilogue: The Importance of Humanities and Their Relation to the Natural Sciences 117
References 127
2 The Theory of the Firm 133
2.1 Introductoon 133
2.2 The Production Department: Production, Capital Equipment, and Replacement 136
2.3 The Production Department: Secondary Inputs 144
2.4 The Production Department: Labor Input 145
2.5 The Handbook of Production 148
2.6 The Inventory Department 149
2.7 The Administration Department: The Organization of a Firm 150
2.8 Some Remarks on Other Characteristics of the Initial Situation of a Firm 160
2.9 The Main Decisions of a Firm Concerning the Real Side 164
2.10 The Initial Situation of a Firm: The Monetary Side 165
2.11 The Possible Decisions of a Firm Concerning the Monetary Sector 169
2.12 Transition of a Firm from One Decision Point to the Next: The Choice Criteria 169
2.13 A Short Look into the Literature 171
References 172
3 The Theory of the Banking System 175
3.1 Introductory Remarks 175
3.2 Some Definitions and Relations. A Note 178
3.3 The Balance Sheet of a Commercial Bank 184
3.4 The Profit and Loss Account of a Commercial Bank 187
3.5 The Organization of a Commercial Bank 189
3.6 The Balance Sheet of the Central Bank 194
3.7 The Decision Variables and the Principles of Decision of the Central Bank 195
3.8 The Decision Variables and the Principles of Decision of a Commercial Bank 207
3.9 The Secondary Inputs of a Commercial Bank 216
3.10 A Digression: Dubious Effectiveness of the Discount Policy of the Central Bank 216
3.11 On the Near-Constancy of Some Coefficients in the Monetary Sector of the Economy 218
3.12 A Digression: Some Consequences of the Near-Constancy of Some Coefficients in the Monetary Sector of the Economy; a Simplified Model 222
3.13 A Final Remark 223
References 223
4 The Educational System, Development and Research 225
4.1 Some Basic Concepts 225
4.2 Natural Endowments and the School System 227
4.3 Learning by Doing 239
4.4 Development, Research and Technical Progress 242
4.5 Some Remarks on Other Explanations of Technical Progress 251
References 255
5 The Theory of the Government 261
5.1 Introduction 261
5.2 Digression 1: An Overview on the Development of Technology and Constitutions in the Last Millennium 262
5.3 Digression 2: An Overview on the Relations of the Status of Agriculture and Handicraft and the Constitutions of Feudalism and Absolutism 268
5.4 Digression 3: An Overview on the Relations of the Status of Industrialism and on the Constitutions of Absolutism and Democracy 276
5.5 The Theory of the Government: Some Definitions and Assumptions 281
5.6 Transition to the Next Period: Decisions of the Government Concerning the Real Side 289
5.7 The Government Budget 296
5.8 Transition to the Next Period: Decisions of the Government Concerning the Monetary Side 297
5.9 Determination of the "Leading Group": Election of the Members of the Government 298
5.10 Some Notes on the Approach Suggested Here in Comparison to Other Approaches 302
References 305
6 The Determination of the Wage Rates 307
6.1 Introduction 307
6.2 Some Basic Definitions and Assumptions 309
6.3 The Determination of the Time Shape of the Trade Unions' Demands for a Wage Increase 315
6.4 Determination of the Time Shape of the Employers Concessions for the Wage Levels 318
6.5 Wage Determination: The Wage Rates Offered by the Employers and Demanded by the Trade Unions Are Equal 319
6.6 Criticism of Wage Determination by Agreement of Trade Unions and Employer Associations. A Digression 320
6.7 A Short Look into the Literature 324
References 326
7 The Theory of the Price of Securities and of the Interest Rates 327
7.1 Introduction 327
7.2 The Price of Securities. A Theory of the Exchange 327
7.3 The Theory of the Determination of the Interest Rates 332
7.4 The Financial Structure of a Commercial Bank 335
7.5 A Short Look into the Literature 337
References 338
A Final Remark 341
END
