Although some economists have envisioned the possibility of a valueneutral normative economics that merely investigates the consequences of policies for the satisfaction of preferences, most would be willing to concede that moral judgments play a role in normative economics. For that reason, they might also concede that there would be some benefit in thinking about ethics. But when it comes to positive economics – the attempt to predict and explain economic outcomes and processes – few economists see any role for ethics.

Although it is sometimes possible (even in economics) to investigate features of the world without evaluating them, it is often very hard to do so. When economics bears strongly and immediately on people's interests, those interests and the moral commitments that are relevant to them are likely to influence the questions economists ask and the answers they defend. It is not obvious that economists should aim for moral neutrality, even if they could achieve it. It is better to understand the values that are at stake than to pretend to transcend them.

Familiarity with moral philosophy can help here. Although values will be most obvious in debates over policy questions that bear directly on people's interests – such as debates over energy policy, prescription drug benefits, agricultural policy, or tax policy – moral commitments can have a much broader influence. We shall show how using two examples. Both concern matters of fact about economies that bear on policy questions, though the second is less immediately relevant to policy than is the first.