Buddhist economics begins with the observation that the goal of work is not maximum production but a way of living that does not cause unnecessary harm — to oneself, to others, or to the conditions that sustain life. Right livelihood is not a constraint on prosperity but a different definition of it: one in which the quality of the activity counts as much as the quantity of its output. This is a coherent alternative to the standard model, not a soft addendum to it.
Each step builds on the last.