The lesson from the Greek crisis should be that economics exists for the good of society, not for its own sake

A Greek bailout deal has been agreed in principle between the country’s government and its creditors. Defne Gonenc writes that throughout the crisis there has been a tendency to view economics as detached from politics, with the impact of economic policies on individual citizens largely pushed to the sidelines in discussions surrounding the technicalities of a bailout deal. She argues that rather than pursuing economics for its own sake, a better approach would be to adopt a narrative that focuses on what economic solutions can do for society.