Benjamin Miller Born in Thornhill, Ontario, now studies political science and philosophy at the University of Ottawa. In his studies in political theory, he often brings Jewish perspectives to secular issues to bring new and deeper insights. Passionate about the Jewish values of compassion, education and justice, Benjamin also organizes a number of charitable causes on and off campus and hosts a political news radio show on a local community station. A great lover of Yiddishkayt, in his spare time he enjoys the stories of Lamed Shapiro and the films of Maurice Schwartz.
Benjamin's Paper:Common understanding tells us that economics is a non-normative discipline aiming only to describe economic activity and seek greater efficiency. This paper challenges that assumption by deconstructing major components of economic reasoning as embodied by opportunity cost and money. This paper finds that ultimately, economic reasoning relies on normative assumptions which contradict Jewish understanding and has as its goal something which is not itself valuable. For these reasons, this paper concludes that, on its own, economic reasoning is an unethical practice.
This presentation was delivered at the Sinai Scholars Academic Symposium 2013. The Sinai Scholars Symposium is a yearly conference for university students, hosted by the Sinai Scholars Society. Students from around the world gather with an esteemed panel of Ivy League professors, world-class Torah scholars and experts in their field to study, discuss and present their thoughts on various subjects that deal with Judaism and the modern world. Each student prepares an academic paper which they present to their colleagues and a panel of judges.
Benjamin's Paper
