Keynote I: Divine Pretentions of Homo Economicus: The Limits of Good Economic Storytelling

Lionel Robbins famously steered the discipline of Economics away from John Stuart Mill’s ‘acquiring and consuming wealth’ definition, to a study of the relationship between ends and scarce means. In contemporary economic storytelling the ends and constraints of people are therefore crucial ingredients.  In this paper, I give examples of ends and constraints from my research, and assess them in the light of Christian Theology. Economic stories about consumer demand, intimate relationships and trustworthiness trip over this critique for different reasons – the first being too optimistic about human nature and the latter two being too pessimistic. More fundamentally, constraints have a negative overtone in Robbins’ conception of economics, whereas their creative status and potential are better acknowledged by theology.