I thank anonymous commenter "ak" for excellent questions, questions both searching and leading. I also thank ak for flattering me by assuming that my thesis is true. In the first question ak assumes that the bulk of wealth we possess exists in habits and expectations.
If my thesis is true, then it is not a problem. Or at least I believe it is not a problem for me or for the human race in general. Wealth is a blessing after all wherever it comes from. But I suspect that difficulties may follow from an assumption made by many governments, that wealth can be transferred by command from one holder to another. I do not know. I hope to learn more.
If our wealth depends upon the expected behavior of other people, we need to ask why other people might behave as we expect. I would assume that other people choose day by day what to do as they live. So, if we are to be correct in our expectations for the behavior of other people, we may need to understand their incentives.
Given the education I have received thus far in economics, I have the impression that economists have not yet answered the questions I am trying to ask. But as yet I am clumsy at wording my questions.
"I would assume that other people choose day by day what to do as they live."
ReplyDeleteDon't discount that people also make plans based on longer horizons as well. If everyone acted with only day-to-day motives, we'd see more property crime, and an awful lot more violent crime.
Maybe "good social behavior" as it's generally observed is the result of a sort-of Nash Equilibrium. We'd behave "worse" except that we have nothing to gain by acting unilaterally.
In this context, when I wrote, "I would assume that other people choose day by day what to do as they live", I intended to point out that any persistent habit of other people, upon which we have come to rely, could possibly change tomorrow. I did not intend to imply that people have no persistent habits. So we agree that people also make plans based on longer horizons.
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