Toward a New Ontological Framework for the Economic Good

In this invited comment piece, I argue that the Lima de Miranda and Snower SAGE framework represents not just another “beyond GDP” alternative but is an important contribution to a larger shift underway in economics regarding our understanding of human behavior and the nature and purpose of economic systems. Recognizing this broader shift helps us see how SAGE might be strengthened and built upon. In this spirit, I suggest some starting points for strengthening the normative foundations of the SAGE framework, discuss an alternative interpretation of the welfare effects of inequality, propose further work on the “material gain” part of the framework, and and briefly suggest an alternative approach to SAGE’s utility maximizing decision model. I conclude that SAGE provides a framework for a very rich future research agenda.