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Back to Basics Series: Homo Economicus Must Die (with Samuel Bowles)
Manage episode 503892179 series 2468847
What if the relentless drive to maximize personal gain isn't human nature, but just a flawed model we built? In this Back-to-Basics episode, behavioral economist Samuel Bowles helps us lay homo economicus—the myth of the perfectly rational, self-interested actor—six feet under. He shows how this caricature not only misrepresents human behavior, but underpins an economic system that ignores cooperation, community, and ethics. If we're hoping to reclaim our society from greed-driven oligarchs and neoliberal policy, we need a better model—which starts with recognizing that humans are more than economic robots.
Samuel Bowles is an economist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, currently serving as Research Professor and Director of the Behavioral Sciences Program at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also the author of The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens.
This episode originally aired May 7, 2019.
Further reading:
The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens
Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Threads: pitchforkeconomics
Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social
TikTok: @pitchfork_econ
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics
Substack: The Pitch
400 episodes
Manage episode 503892179 series 2468847
What if the relentless drive to maximize personal gain isn't human nature, but just a flawed model we built? In this Back-to-Basics episode, behavioral economist Samuel Bowles helps us lay homo economicus—the myth of the perfectly rational, self-interested actor—six feet under. He shows how this caricature not only misrepresents human behavior, but underpins an economic system that ignores cooperation, community, and ethics. If we're hoping to reclaim our society from greed-driven oligarchs and neoliberal policy, we need a better model—which starts with recognizing that humans are more than economic robots.
Samuel Bowles is an economist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, currently serving as Research Professor and Director of the Behavioral Sciences Program at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also the author of The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens.
This episode originally aired May 7, 2019.
Further reading:
The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens
Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Threads: pitchforkeconomics
Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social
TikTok: @pitchfork_econ
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics
Substack: The Pitch
400 episodes
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