Sheldon Richman on utilitarianism vs. social cooperation

Putting social cooperation at the center of the [economics] discipline… is highly significant.  If the economic problem to be solved is seen as one of allocating resources among competing uses, attention may easily move to central decision-making, with bureaucracies filled with economists and computers.  The social calculus of utilitarianism becomes prominent.  But if the spotlight is on cooperation among individual persons, one’s orientation is different.  Central decision-making is quickly seen as interference with cooperation among free individuals.

~ Sheldon Richman, "James Buchanan's Subjectivist Economics," Future of Freedom Foundation, April 1, 2013