Jerry Evensky

Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments: On Morals and Why They Matter to a Liberal Society of Free People and Free Markets

This essay describes Smiths analysis of ethics in his Theory of Moral Sentiments: the interaction of our nature and our nurturing that makes common civic ethics possible and the dynamic interaction of individuals and extant societal constructions that can lead to ever more mature systems of civic ethics and thus toward those conditions necessary for a constructive, sustainable liberal system.

Adam Smith's Moral Philosophy

Adam Smith is the best known among economists for his book, The Wealth of Nations, often viewed as the keystone of modern economic thought. For many he has become associated with a quasi-libertarian laissez-faire philosophy. Others, often heterodox economists and social philosophers, on the contrary, focus on Smiths Theory of Moral Sentiments, and explore his moral theory. There has been a long debate about the relationship or lack thereof between these, his two great works. This work treats these dimensions of Smiths work as elements in a seamless moral philosophical vision, demonstrating the integrated nature of these works and Smiths other writings. This book weaves Smith into a constructive critique of modern economic analysis (engaging along the way the work of Nobel Laureates Gary Becker, Amarty Sen, Douglass North, and James Buchanan) and builds bridges between that discourse and the other social sciences.

Addressing prerequisite mathematics needs— a case study in introductory economics

In the development of an individuals education, skills developed at one stage are prerequisites for success at the next stage. Within the domain of mathematics there are many such sequential relationships in skill development and, more broadly, mathematical skills are often prerequisites for success in subsequent content‐area courses. Unfortunately, many content‐area teachers simply assume a level of math skills and then bemoan the failure of their students, or teach to the lowest common denominator, or refer apparently weak students to alternative courses. In this piece we offer another model for addressing prerequisite mathematics needs. It is one in which a small set of prerequisite skills for the content course (in our case, introductory economics) are identified, this set is assessed, and students at the margin are tuned up for success. We believe this model is a more efficient and effective way of dealing with mathematical skill needs in content area courses. Our model is described and the results ...

SHOULD A HIGH SCHOOL ADOPT ADVANCED PLACEMENT OR A CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT PROGRAM? AN EXPECTED BENEFIT APPROACH

This article provides an explicit framework for evaluating the expected benefit to college-bound students of courses offered by Advanced Placement (AP) versus concurrent enrollment programs (CEP). District personnel can use it to assess the relative merits of these programs, given the characteristics of their students, in deciding which model to implement or maintain. Simulations reveal that CEP generally provides a higher expected benefit for districts where students who take the course attend private colleges or universities (including public institutions out of state) and perform on the AP exam around national norms. AP favors high schools where students taking the course either face inexpensive costs for study at institutions of higher education or perform exceptionally well on the AP exam. Information from a sample of 240 colleges and universities reveals that few explicitly reject AP or CEP for credit if the student meets a minimum criterion, although more information is provided for AP.

Economics in Context

Academic departmentalization has limited the dimensionality and thus the richness of analysis in the social sciences. The author examines the case of a modern economics as an example. He reviews the ideas of Williamson (2000), who cites the limits of scope in the New Institutional Economics; Buchanan, who lays bare the ethical foundations of political economy in his constitutional economics; and Adam Smith, whose moral philosophy reflects a fully dimensional analysis. The author cites examples of how modern economic analysis can be enhanced by a reintegration with the other social sciences.

Adam Smith and the philosophy of law and economics

Preface. Introduction to the Volume R.P. Malloy. Setting the Scene: Adam Smiths Moral Philosophy J. Evensky. Adam Smith and the Role of the Courts in Securing Justice and Liberty J.W. Cairns. Adam Smiths Treatment of Criminal Law J.R. Lindgren. Adam Smith on Delictual Liability K.A.B. Mackinnon. Adam Smith and the Modern Discourse of Law and Economics R.P. Malloy. Introduction to Part Two R.P. Malloy. Is Law and Economics Moral? Humanistic Economics and a Classical Liberal Critique of Posners Economic Analysis R.P. Malloy. Law and Economics is Moral R.A. Posner. The Limits of Science in Legal Discourse -- a Reply to Posner R.P. Malloy. Rebuttal to Malloy R.A. Posner. Professor Malloy, Judge Posner, and Adam Smiths Moral Philosophy J. Evensky. The Role of Law in Adam Smiths Moral Philosophy: Natural Jurisprudence and Utility J. Evensky. Index.

ADAM SMITH'S ESSENTIALS: ON TRUST, FAITH, AND FREE MARKETS

When trust is shaken, individuals pull back and the market system contracts. Where trust grows, individual energy and creativity are unleashed and the system grows. In Adam Smith’s vision of humankind’s progress, trust is the central theme.

Teaching college economics in the high schools: The role of concurrent enrollment programs

The authors examine concurrent enrollment programs (CEP) as an effective means of teaching college economics in high school. They describe the establishment of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships to set national standards for CEP. They also investigate the performance of high school students taking the Syracuse University one-semester micro/macro principles of economics course through its CEP, Project Advance, on the Test of Economic Literacy. CEP students average nearly 1 percentage point higher than do the advanced placement/honors economics group and score considerably better in fundamentals and international economics. By cognitive levels, CEP students score over 4 percentage points in the knowledge area and exhibit better performance on application questions.

Making a Series of Courses into a Program: A Case Study in Curriculum Development

We had often heard from students that they did not have the right micro tools for their applied courses. From faculty who taught the applied courses, we had also often heard that they had quit expecting any specific set of tools to be mastered in intermediate micro theory and simply taught the tools needed in their classes before they began the applied content. Was this anecdotal evidence representative of a real problem? In this article, we address a concern about the connection between the intermediate micro theory course (hereinafter: 301) and the upper-level applied micro courses (hereinafter: the applied courses) in the Department of Economics at Syracuse University. The obvious locus of responsibility for the program, as opposed to the courses, was in the office of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. (In fall 1990, Evensky was named director of this newly created office, and Wells was named graduate assistant to the director.) We felt responsible for ensuring that the economics major was more than a series of courses in which students got their tickets punched, showing that they had been there. Each course should be a part that fits into an intellectual construction project. The final product should allow students to see with a new depth and scope of vision and to imagine creatively. This construction is what makes a series of courses a program. We set out in fall 1990 to answer the question: Do the courses our department

The Role of Law in Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy:Natural Jurisprudence and Utility

Adam Smith writes of human action that: [W]hen we are determining the degree of blame or applause which seems due 10 any action, we very frequently make use of two different standards. The first is the idea of complete propriety and perfection, which, in those difficult situations, no human conductever did, or ever can come up to; and in comparison with which the actions of all men must for ever appear blameable and imperfect. The second is the idea of that degree of proximity or distance from this complete perfection, which the actions of the greater part of men commonly arrive at. Whatever goes beyond this degree, how far soever it may be removed from absolute perfection, seems to deserve applause and whatever falls short of it, to deserve blame. (TMS, 26)