Economics is the dominant religion in our society. The logic of the market is not a description of human but a prescription for the best life. ‘Economic man’ – independent, driven by self-interest – is proposed as a reflection of who we are, but perhaps instead it is a projection of who we should be. If so, for those who subscribe to this vision, it is the aim of the economy, of politics, of society, to bring him into being.
Katrine Marçal’s searing new book exposes the flaws of classical economics and its modern incarnations and in particular its missionary zeal to subordinate all other human aims at the altar of the market. With wit and a hefty dose of anger, she tells a convincing story of the history of economic man, born in a time when the laws of physics were being revealed. Assuming a rational, masculine actor motivated by self-interest and guided by rational decision-making, these emerging ideas opened up the possibility that all human endeavour could be neatly summarised by a theory of economic life.
At the heart of Marçal’s critique of these ideas is an observation that is neither new nor revolutionary: economic man is an illusion. He does not exist. She argues that the evidence for this is the existence of women, of the ‘feminine.’ The market logic described by Adam Smith posits that the self-interests of many actors combine to put dinner on the table. Marçal points out that he missed possibly the most crucial actor: his mother. The woman who bought the groceries, prepared the meals, and put them on the table in front of him. She casts doubt on the assumption that this woman, Margaret Douglas, would have been motivated by self-interest.
Taking this relationship as her starting point, Marçal explores the history of economic thought through a feminist lens. She demonstrates again and again how women, and the attributes associated with them – dependency, love, embodiedness – are ignored, or subsumed in the quest to bring forth a society that has at its core a neat market logic.
Marçal argues that the problem with classical economics is not that it overlooks women, or love, or any of the emotions or instincts absent in a theoretical market. There have been numerous efforts to adapt the equations to take these things into account. It is the assumption that these efforts have succeeded, that all of human activity can be described using market logic, which is most dangerous.
As a result, morality is stripped out of economic and financial decisions. Or rather, market logic becomes morality. Society should be ordered to enable the market to function freely – this should be the goal of government. But if the foundations of this logic are not just shaky, but never existed, why does the ideal of homo-economicus remain our dominant ideology?
Who Cooked Adam Smith’s dinner tells a powerful, and entertaining, story. In doing so, Marçal opens up a crucial question: If economics is not a natural law, is there an alternative? By breaking down claims of economics as morality, she opens up the possibility of new way of doing things, putting people and their lives, rather than a flawed market logic, at the heart of society.
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Sarah Hutchinson is vice-chair of Fabian Women’s Network. She tweets @sjhutchinson
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Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner? A story about women and economics
Katrine Marçal
Porotbello Books | 240pp | £12.99