Biological competition is widely believed to result in the evolution of selfish preferences. The related concept of the 'homo economicus' is at the core of mainstream economics. However, there is also experimental and empirical evidence for other-regarding preferences. Here we present a theory that explains both, self-regarding and other-regarding preferences. Assuming conditions promoting non-...

R esponding to a request for a forecast is especially tricky for someone like me, who specializes in other people’s biases. Research in psychology suggests that certain biases are very likely to creep into my forecasts about the future of economics (or anything else). 1. Optimism (and wishful thinking). We all tend to be optimistic about the future. On the first day of my MBA class on decision-...

How do reward outcomes affect early visual performance? Previous studies found a suboptimal influence, but they ignored the non-linearity in how subjects perceived the reward outcomes. In contrast, we find that when the non-linearity is accounted for, humans behave optimally and maximize expected reward. Our subjects were asked to detect the presence of a familiar target object in a cluttered s...

This article examines the construction of the homo economicus in Argentina in the context of the last military dictatorship (1976 83). While the worldviews of the military and neo-liberal economists of the time were very different, their common concern for distortions in economic and political life made them translatable. These economists provided a new economic identity that would be in tune w...

In everyday life people tend to equate needs with wants. Sometimes mention something as a need that must be met immediately, even though is wish could have been postponed. A lifestyle oriented towards economic alone not justified in Islam because this attitude the same placing activity goal of life. On other hand, reducing desire maximize activities sector also it lowers degree and prestige Mus...