1 The Libertarian Trick: Ethics without Economics Prepared for the Economics for the Future conference Cambridge, September 17-19, 2003 By Duncan Cameron Political Science University of Ottawa dcamero@uottawa.ca Moral philosophy is undergoing a revival following a debate over the nature of justice featuring John Rawls defence of the welfare state, and Robert Nozicks riposte from the right. Nozick argued that work belonged to those that did it, and that such self-ownership trumped claims to redistribution, even on the basis of superior need. Exposing this “libertarian trick” entails making explicit the moral dimension in macroeconomics and showing how policy retains an ethical character. It is suggested that an economics for the future (teaching, research and policy-making) should connect economics and moral philosophy as political economy did in the past.