Skip to content

The Contributions of Buddhist Economics

    Laszlo Zsolnai ‘The Contributions of Buddhist Economics.’ , in Ethical Principles and Economic Transformation: A Buddhist Approach, ed. Laszlo Zsolnai, Spinger, 2011. (This book may be available at: Spinger)

    Buddhist economics can be seen as a radical alternative to the Western economic mindset. Western economics represents a maximizing framework. It wants to maximize profit, desires, market, instrumental use and self-interest, and tends to build a world where “bigger is better” and “more is more.”. Buddhist economics represents a minimizing framework where suffering, desires, violence, instrumental use and self-interest are minimized. This is why “small is beautiful” and “less is more” nicely express the essence of the Buddhist approach to economic questions.

    The Contributions of Buddhist Economics