Faculty Profiles


photo of professor emeritus of business economics james halteman

James Halteman, Ph.D.

Professor of Business and Economics Emeritus

On Faculty since 1979




Ph.D., economics, The Pennsylvania State University - 1974

M.A., economics, The Pennsylvania State University - 1971

B.A. history, secondary education, Goshen College - 1966

Since the 18th century, mainstream economic analysis has been viewed as a science much like classical physics and the data it uses has been treated as value free. Most economic work adopts a rational choice framework that focuses primarily on the egoistic motivations of behavior. Except at the policy level this makes moral reflection irrelevant and ignores many non-egoistic motivations underlying our actions. By studying the moral philosophy of Adam Smith and tapping into the more recent work on non-egoistic motivations of behavior there is opportunity to relate more directly to the underlying values and philosophical orientation of economic life. This effort to emphasize moral reflection in economics, even at the data level, provides the foundation for Halteman's research.

  • Intermediate microeconomics
  • Government finance
  • European political economy
  • International business
  • The history of economic thought
  • American Economic Association
  • Association of Christian Economists
  • Association of Social Economists
  • MEDA, Mennonite Econ. Dev. Associates

Moral Reflection in Economic Thinking from the Ancient World to Modern Times

  • The Clashing Worlds of Economics and Faith. (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1995)  [Revised edition of Market Capitalism and Christianity]
  • Study Guide and Instructor's Manual to accompany Microeconomics and Behavior by Robert Frank,  (New York:  McGraw‑Hill Publishing Co., 1990. 2nd edition, 1994. 3rd edition, 1996, 4th edition, 2000, 5th edition, 2002)
  • "Why Christians Differ on Money", Conciliation Quarterly Winter 1998, Vol. 17, No. 1.
  • "Across the Bridge of Time: Carrying Biblical Economic Principles into our Modern Lives"Sharing, Winter 1998, Volume 32, Number 3.
  • "The Market System, The Poor, and Economic Theory" chapter 3, Toward a Just and Caring Society, ed. by David Gushee, (Baker Books, 1999.)
  • Presented a paper  "The Moral Hierarchy of Adam Smith", Illinois Economic Association annual meetings November 2, 1996.
  • Presented a paper: "Adam Smith and Thorstein Veblen as Inspiration for a Social Economics." (Cambridge, UK: Tenth World Congress of Association of Social Economists. August, 2000.)
  • "Adam Smith and the Prospects for Moral Reflection in the Enlightenment," presented at a conference, Baylor University, November, 2002.
  • “Is Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy an Adequate Foundation for the Market Economy” in Journal of Markets and Morality, Vol. 6 Number 2 (Fall 2003)
  • “Productive Capital and the Wealth Passages in Scripture” in Journal of Faith and Economics, 2005
  • “Externalities and the Coase Theorem: A Diagramatic Presentation” in  Journal of Economic Education.  Fall, 2005.
  • Reckoning with Markets: Moral Reflection in Economics, Oxford University Press.  2012. Edd Noell is a co-author.
  • “Anabaptist Economics”: Book chapter in Oxford Handbook on Christianity and EconomicsOxford University Press. 2014.