Freakonomics

Haven't read this book but it sounds awful. A "rogue economist" who still accepts the mainstream orthodoxy? What's so roguish about that? This seems to be just another attempt to apply the insights from one field to another without much thought and that fits in very much with the "imperialistic" designs of economics (Lazzear, QJE).

It really is old hat. If we're going to think about serious problems like the allocation of resources over time (pensions, the environment), about what is ultimately of importance-happiness, the quality of life and not just more commodities, then I think we're going to need another paradigm, one that incorporates ethics and responsibility and move beyond the shallow conception of the 'self' that is at the heart of economics' methodological individualism; one that has a broader, more pluralistic notion of our motivations and our different evaluative standards, a more capacious understanding of the self and of rationality.

Two books that look much more promising are Jonathan Aldred's 'The Skeptical Economist' and Richard Bronk's 'The Romantic Economist'. Of course, for the master himself, pick up Sen's (non-technical) 'Ethics and Economics'.