A well-trained theologian, a gifted and dedicated teacher of economics for over forty years, and the author of a highly regarded and widely used textbook, "The Economic Way of Thinking", Paul Heyne influenced generations of students of economics. Many of the essays in this volume are published here for the first time. The editors, Geoffrey Brennan and A M C Waterman, have divided Heyne's essays thematically to cover three general areas: the ethical foundations of free markets, the connection between those ethical foundations and Christian thought, and the teaching of economics -- both method and substance. Heyne's writings are unique in that he takes the critics of the free market order seriously and addresses their arguments directly, showing how they are defective in their understanding of economics and in their ethical and theological underpinnings. The engaging style of Heyne's essays makes them accessible to students as well as to scholars. Even in discussions of topics well beyond the fundamental level, Heyne still succeeds in providing students with an appreciation of basic economic principles.
"This volume collects 26 unpublished and published papers of the late US economist Paul Heyne (1931-2000), many of which are concerned with the question posed by the title (also the title of the first essay) and the relationship between economics and theology (a lifelong concern of Heyne, who was a Lutheran ordinand in the 1950s). In addition to essays on the relationships between ethics, theology, and economics, the essays address teaching and methodology issues and also include discussion of the policy areas of the responsibility of business, labor unions, drug policy, and the environment." Reference & Research Book News February 2009
