The Economics of Moral Values: Policy Implications

This paper attempts to determine the extent to which the growing acceptance of deviant behaviors (sexual, sumptuary, and regarding abortion and euthanasia) is related to economic considerations and to draw out some of the attendant implications for health policy in light of notions of social justice. The analysis suggests that economic factors are very influential if not determining variables in this relationship and that they may conflict with “higher-order values” such as human dignity and respect for human life as bases for policy formulation, particularly with respect to the care of the elderly.