Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy
“Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all people on the planet are part of a global community. The philosophy of cosmopolitanism is very broad, sometimes advocating universal rules, or that we should all have the same partiality to people far away than we do closer to us. By appending the modifier ‘methodological’ to ‘cosmopolitanism,’ I mean to invoke a meaning similar to the philosophical one, but more limited to just one’s analytical method. In short, I am using the phrase ‘methodological cosmopolitanism’ simply to mean that when examining the economic effects of something, the costs and benefits to all parties affected must be taken into account. Arbitrary distinctions like race, nationality, gender, wealth, class, etc., do not determine whose costs matter and whose do not. Methodological cosmopolitanism is necessary to economic understanding.” (03/25/25)