Crusoe’s Kingdom: Cost, Choice and Political Economy

J. Wiseman and Stephen Littlechild

Chapter 7 in Unknowledge and Choice in Economics, 1990, pp 96-128 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Robinson Crusoe is the economist’s archetypal expository device. He is used to illustrate individual consumption and investment decisions before Friday is wheeled on to illustrate trade. But a reading of Defoe’s novel reveals a somewhat different picture. Crusoe’s own decision-making process is significantly richer than that envisaged in economics textbooks. Furthermore, Crusoe and Friday never engage in trade: their relationship is somewhere between that of a firm and a command economy.

Keywords: Political Economy; Public Choice; Contingency Plan; Subjectivist Approach; Command Economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1990
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DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-08097-7_7

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