ABSTRACT
In 1976 Gary Becker’s The Economic Approach to Human Behavior introduced into social science a radical emphasis on the relevance of individual rationality in human behavior of all kinds, and argued that this rendered the conclusions of economic theory directly and overridingly applicable to areas of social interaction which had traditionally been treated as the “turf” of other social sciences. Brian Loasby was one economist who expressed serious reservations concerning what others have seen as “economic imperialism.” Loasby was disturbed by a perspective which sees all areas of social science as being rendered subfields in a “universal” applied economics. “Becker…has claimed that this principle of coherent rationality not only provides a unified framework for the analysis of all human behaviour-itself a claim of astonishing ambition, if not arrogance-but that it is the only such basis-the only firm spot on which to stand” (Loasby, 1989, p. 191). Becker’s position, which has been described as “hardboiled economism” (Green, 1996, p. 28), raises important issues relating to the very foundations of economic science.
