Peter Martin AM, presenter of the forum will speak.

If people are compassionate, where does that leave economics?

Economics is built on the assumption of a “rational economic man,” a being that is said to make decisions solely on the basis of maximising “utility”.

But there’s an awful lot of evidence that people aren’t like that, being generous to others in ways that couldn’t possibly advance their own interests, and being prepared to harm their own interests rather than be party to arrangements they don’t think are fair.

It has sparked debates in economics about how much the profession will have to change to incorporate reality, or whether it should.