Applying Buddhist Ethical Principles in Markets
Abstract: The Buddhist tradition distinguishes between chanda, desire for things that sustain well-being; and tanha, desire for things which do not sustain well-being but give sense-gratification. Production of goods and services which sustain well-being is to be favoured by Buddhists, whereas production of goods and services for tanha only, are not a good use of resources. This paper attempts to apply these principles to markets that so far, have been largely driven by neoclassical economics.
Economics is often claimed to be free of any ethics.[1] However, there is an implicit ethics in neoclassical economics that governs economic decisions on every level. The basic theory says that individuals act self-interestedly to satisfy their desires, which are infinite. [2] The assumption is that it is good for the individual to satisfy her desires – that it will make her happy. The best possible outcome, then, for an individual, is when their desires are maximally satisfied, and for society as a whole, when some maximization of desires is satisfied, subject to other ethically-imposed constraints.
The main contention with this way of thinking, brought to light by Buddhist ethics, is that maximally satisfying an individual’s desires is not beneficial to her happiness.[3] In fact, there is reason to believe it will make them less happy, be worse off for the community as a whole, and may even be propelling the destruction of the planet and the human race.
There are good reasons to believe this is the case outside of a Buddhist framework. Though, in the last 30 years, GDP has increased staggeringly in the US and in Japan[4], subjective measures of happiness have remained the same, even for people who have gotten richer. Neuroscientific research has given credence to the claim that satisfying many desires don’t bring us happiness.[5]
