Extending Economic Analysis to Analyze Policy Issues More Broadly

Extending traditional economic policy analysis to include factors emphasized by other social scientists and philosophers, more social and public policy issues may be analyzed more adequately. For example, should the market expand beyond its traditional confines of goods and services? Should more immigration be allowed? Wider effects like social harmony, repugnance and morality should also be considered. Though the extended analysis does not provide a definite general answer, in combination with the first theorem of welfare economics and the principle of treating a dollar as a dollar in specific issues, it provides some general propositions that guide the analysis of relevant costs and benefits of specific policy changes beyond narrow economic efficiency.