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Not all folk-economic beliefs are best understood through our ancestral past

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2018

Amit Bhattacharjee  and
Jason Dana
Amit Bhattacharjee
Affiliation:
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands. [email protected]://www.rsm.nl/people/amit-bhattacharjee
Jason Dana
Affiliation:
Yale School of Management, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511. [email protected]://som.yale.edu/jason-dana
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Abstract

We applaud Boyer & Petersen's (B&P's) approach to a fascinating topic. Their arguments against understanding folk-economic beliefs (FEBs) in terms of economic ignorance or specific biases, however, are overly pessimistic. Economic theory is the reason beliefs about such disparate phenomena are labeled “economic” and “folk.” More importantly, some FEBs are better understood by examining current rather than ancestral contexts of exchange.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e163
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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References

Bhattacharjee, A., Dana, J. & Baron, J. (2017) Anti-profit beliefs: How people neglect the societal benefits of profit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 113(5):671–96.Google Scholar
Caplan, B. (2007) The myth of the rational voter: Why democracies choose bad policies. Princeton University Press. [Original hardcover edition]Google Scholar