ABSTRACT
The neoclassical approach to economics can be adequately summarized using the concepts defined in Chapter 1. Beginning with ideology, mainstream neoclassical economists make certain assumptions about human nature which are generally consistent with and supportive of a capitalist society. These include the assumption that people behave rationally and act in their own self-interest. It also includes the assumption that people's material wants are unlimited and hence can never be satisfied. Ours is an acquisitive, growth-oriented society in which more material wealth is always preferred to less. The neoclassical ideology also holds that competition (as opposed to cooperation) is a necessary fact of life and may even be desirable. Inequality in material well-being is also typically assumed to be a fact of life, as are the beliefs that material incentives are essential for human motivation and that property ownership is a natural right.
