1. Economics is the study of why people chose to do what they do with the limited resources they have at hand.

2. What I'm saying is that in general, over time, ethics have become "more ethical," because people (again in general) realize that it is in everyone's interest for people's behavior to make sense. This process has been very hit-and-miss, and so any moral system can be shown to have inconsistencies. Basically my thought is that over time, moral systems tend to have less inconsistencies.