Bread and Bullet

George Akerlof and Dennis Snower

No 11132, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: Standard economics omits the role of narratives (the stories that people tell themselves and others) when they make all kinds of decisions. Narratives play a role in understanding the environment; focusing attention; predicting events; motivating action; assigning social roles and identities; defining power relations; and establishing and conveying social norms. This paper describes the role narratives play in decision making, as it also juxtaposes this description against the backdrop of the Bolshevik-spawned narrative that played a critical role in the history of Russia and the Soviet Union in the 20th Century.

Keywords: Narrative; Motivation; Attention; Prediction; Identity; Social assignment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A12 A13 A14 D03 D04 D20 D23 D30 D62 D71 D72 D74 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cis, nep-hpe and nep-mic
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Bread and bullets (2016)
Working Paper: Bread and Bullets (2016)
Working Paper: Bread and Bullets (2016)
Working Paper: Bread and bullets (2016)
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