On the Problem of Economic Power: Lessons from the Natural History of the Hawaiian Archipelago

Matt Funk

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: One of the greatest logicians of the twentieth century, Bertrand Russell, proposed that Economic power, unlike military power, is not primary, but derivative. Curiously, this conjecture has received scarce attention. This paper explores this theory. Our illustrative discourse tests this overlooked theory in the light of evolution: We model Homo evolution by sampling the past ≈1000 years of cultural evolution in the Hawaiian archipelago. Our analysis concludes Russell's theory is true.

Keywords: economic power; military power; evolutionary game theory; cultural evolution; resource holding power; long-distance dispersal; Second Amendment; Kamehameha; Hawaii; sovereignty; annexation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 N40 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-12-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul, nep-evo and nep-his
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:19371

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