谁是真正的理性经济人——对次贷危机的伦理反思

Who Is the Real Rational Homo Economicus? —An Ethical Reflection on the Subprime Mortgage Crisis

以美国次贷危机事件为例,展示西方古典经济学中经济人假设的合理性,而这种合理性仅仅基于微观层面的个体经济人的经济行为。个体经济人在微观经济活动中出于自利最大化的动机而将其道德身份转移出去给国家承担。随着世界市场成熟,国家成为真正的理性经济人,国家必须出于经济和道德的双重身份而从事经济活动,并承担个体经济人的非道德经济行为导致的破坏性后果的道德责任。

Taking the Subprime Mortgage Crisis in America as an example, the article displays the rationality of the homo economicus hypothesis in the western classical economics. But that rationality is merely based on the microeconomic level of those personal economic activities. The individual homo economicus will transfer its moral status to its state or government in its microeconomic activities for the purpose of maximum benefit. With the world markets becoming mature, the state or government has become the real rational homo economius. Thus the state or government should undertake economic activities with both the economic and the moral status, and the moral resvonsibilitv for the destructive result from the individual＇ s immoral economic activity.