Constructivist and Ecological Rationality in Economics

Vernon Smith ()

No 2002-7, Nobel Prize in Economics documents from Nobel Prize Committee

Abstract: When we leave our closet, and engage in the common affairs of life, (reason's) conclusions seem to vanish, like the phantoms of the night on the appearance of the morning; and 'tis difficult for us to retain even that conviction, which we had attained with difficulty (Hume, 1739/, p 507). we must constantly adjust our lives, our thoughts and our emotions, in order to live simultaneously within different kinds of orders according to different rules. If we were to apply the unmodified, uncurbed rules (of caring intervention to do visible 'good') of the small band or troop, or our families to the (extended order of cooperation through markets), as our instincts and sentimental yearnings often make us wish to do, we would destroy it. Yet if we were to always apply the (noncooperative) rules of the extended order to our more intimate groupings, we would crush them. (Hayek, 1988, p 18). (Italics are his, parenthetical reductions are mine).

Keywords: behavioral economics; experimental economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C90 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 60 pages
Date: 2002-12-08
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Journal Article: Constructivist and Ecological Rationality in Economics (2003)
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