ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE A Concept of Progress for Normative Economics

The paper discusses the sense in which the changes undergone by normative economics in the 20th century can be said to be progressive. A simple criterion is proposed to decide whether a sequence of normative theories is progressive. This criterion is put to use on the historical transition from the new welfare economics to social choice theory. The paper reconstructs this classic case, and eventually concludes that the latter theory was progressive compared with the former. It also briefly comments on the recent developments in normative economics and their connection with the previous two stages. Mots clés : Progrès, économie normative, économie du bien-être, théorie du choix social, fonction de bien-être social, théorème d'Arrow, welfarisme