On: Morality, Culture and Tribalism.
Episode: N/A
Date: July 2018
Background: Economist.
Key Subjects:
- Limitations of economics by assuming that human actors are rational, utility maximizing agents.
- Economics: the science of maximizing wellbeing in a world of self-interests and scarce resources.
- Problems in economics:
- Aggregating individual preferences.
- Something is lost.
- Using “ceteris paribus” .
- Making the assumption that everything else is constant.
- Becomes an issue when one of the factors held constant is culture.
- Holding human nature (or the sum of it) constant is troublesome.
- Also, very few data points across time are constant – this muddles the discussion.
- Compounding versus aggregation.
- Compounding works out for everyone in the long run.
- Necessitates aggregation which is sub-optimal in the short run.
- Aggregating individual preferences.
Key Takeaways:
- The tension between long-term compounding (ultimately, the boat rises for everyone) and short-term aggregation (in the short run, some are better off than others).
Worth Listening:
6/10