Heterodox Economics and the Economics of Harm

This article is a companion to “Orthodox Economics and the Economics of Harm.” It builds on the previous article by developing two topics. In the first section is a further discussion of the concept of harm. What is the best name to give to the concept of harm, as other general terms have been proposed? Is harm a value judgment and thus, as a concept, not able to be part of an objective science? How will harm be treated in economics? The second section discusses heterodox approaches to harm. Much of heterodox economics, such as institutional, feminist, and conflict economics, has focused on major areas of harm, developing and strengthening the analysis of harm. The two costs have been terminologies which differ among the various approaches and the (unmet) need to bring the approaches together in an overall view of harm. Heterodox economics (and the relatively few orthodox authors) are on the right track in understanding productive + harmful economic systems while orthodox economics, as shown by its textbooks, is not. Yet the wrong approach is the dominant one. Will the truth win out?