Is money earned more valuable than money given?

Modern economists and local politicians usually focus exclusively on how financial incentives propel social behavior. But is it always true? Jonathan Aldred's new book, License to Be Bad: How Economics Corrupted Us, upends traditional notions. Review by Paul Johnson in the Literary Review.

"We in the economics profession focus a lot on financial incentives, for instance how to use taxes, benefits or performance-related pay to influence behavior.  Aldred takes us beyond the usual arguments for why the use of incentives often backfires (for example, paying blood donors leads the quantity and quality of blood donations to fall). He challenges the very ethical basis of using financial incentives, arguing that if they are predictably effective then they undermine people's freedom and exert control in an unethical way. I'm not sure I agree, but it got me thinking, which is as much as you can ask from a book. Aldred is certainly right to say that people often regard income from different sources differently, valuing income they earn more than income from benefits."

Read the whole thing here.

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