“Economism” means the dominance of “economic” ways of thinking and acting and denotes economics, specifically neoclassical economics—the dominant and most powerful and widespread form of economic thinking in public policy and political debate—as a form of ideology.

The imputed value-free (and therefore nonethical and nonpolitical) character of modern neoclassical economics has perhaps done most to establish the predilection for economism within much contemporary political and environmental political debate. Simply put, economics is not and simply cannot be an “ethics free zone.” It is not value-free, objective, and scientific. In fact much of the criticism of economics is motivated by a desire for supporters of neoclassical economics to “come clean” about the value judgments and ethical positions that underpin it. Modern economics is as ideological and value ...