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Introduction
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15
Firstsixchaptersconcernmethodology.Theyconcludethateconomicscannot
bevalue-free.Therefore,economistsneedtolgettheirhandsdirty’andbe
entangledinthenormativediscussiononhumanwell-being.Chapter7
concernslibertarianpaternalismandispresentedasapracticalapplicationof
thepreviousmethodologicalchapters.Moreover,theconceptionoflibertarian
paternalismproposedbyThalerandSunstein(2008)hasattractedalotof
attention,mostlynegativeone(Binder,2014;Fumagalli,2016;Gigerenzer,
2015;Glaeser,2006;Grüne-Yanoff,2012;Hédoin,2017;Infante,Lecouteux,
&Sugden,2016;McQuillin,&Sugden,2012;Mitchell,2005;Qizilbash,2009,
2012;Schnellenbach,2016;Sugden,2008b,2009a,2010,2015,2017,2018;White,
2013).OneofthereasonsforsuchstrongcriticismisThaler’sandSunstein’s
inabilitytobaselibertarianpaternalismuponastrongphilosophicalfoundation.
Theyclaimthatlibertarianpaternalismguaranteesbothfreedomandwell-being
forindividuals.However,theywerenotabletoprovideenoughargumentsto
makethisclaimconvincingformany.
Iusetheconclusionsfromthisbooktoputlibertarianpaternalismonamoresolid
methodologicalfoundation.Thediscussionisnotsolelyfocusedonlibertarian
paternalismbutalsoonbehaviouralwelfareeconomiststhatcastdoubtson
consumersovereignty.Theyarguethatwecanfindpurifiedpreferenceswhich
rationalhumanwouldchoosetohaveifitwerenotforcognitivebiases.This
claimisstronglycriticized.ToanswersomeofthecriticismsIusetheconcept
ofllong-termhuman’toarguethatwecanfind,atleastinsomecases,purified
preferences.Eventhoughlibertarianpaternalismcanbedefendedagainstalot
ofcriticism,itdoesnotmeanthatweshouldcloseoureyestothedangers
oflibertarianpaternalism.Therefore,onlyalimitedversionoflibertarian
paternalismissupported.
Intheend,itispresentedthatwecannotdiscussconceptslikelibertarian
paternalismwithoutindicatingourvaluesfirst.Thisidearesonateswiththe
maingoalofthisbook-economistsneedtoputtheirvaluesonthetableand
makethemtransparent.Theyshouldnotbehiddeninthedisguiseofobjectivity.
Ofcourse,itcanmeanthatwewillneverendthisdebatebutatleastour
lconversation’canbemorefruitful.
