ECON 2960 - Buddhist Economics

Prerequisite: Instructor consent
Credits: 4

This course begins where Oxford Economist, E.F. Schumacher left off. In his 1973 classic, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, Schumacher introduced the idea of Buddhist Economics. In a nutshell, what if people mattered more than stuff? Imagine an Economy based on the Buddhist Principle of Right Livelihood? Then, in 2015, UC-Berkeley Economist, Clair Brown codified the sub-discipline of Buddhist Economics - presenting an alternative to Neo-Classical thought. This course is an exploration of Buddhist Economics with an emphasis on applying these ideas to the Costa Rican Economy. We will explore the basic philosophical underpinnings of “Right Livelihood,” and what that means for individual and collective behavior in the 21st Century economy. We will explore questions related to craving, employment, production, profits, and how we organize our economy. This will entail reading across disciplines - including, but not limited to - Economics, Philosophy, Sociology, Neuroscience, and Religion. Additionally, we will explore the latest findings on altruism, compassion, and mindfulness and apply this to imaging a new economic system - a system where people matter.