tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889026769761133073.post8741424895339852186..comments2023-12-22T08:42:36.132+00:00Comments on Gaian Economics: Rational choice?Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12845612174674783187noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889026769761133073.post-36324956396829597282010-05-30T18:33:30.532+01:002010-05-30T18:33:30.532+01:00All this rational economic man stuff leaves me,as...All this rational economic man stuff leaves me,as a muddling through kind of bloke, stranded in irrational exuberance. The Laws of neo-liberal cons? As for the efficient market hypothesis, the economist's sense of humour is shown by their touching faith in predicting growth to the nearest tenth of a per cent.Martin Largehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00126643638145828697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5889026769761133073.post-54272865181798817302010-05-30T10:16:08.001+01:002010-05-30T10:16:08.001+01:00Yes. Compartmentalism. The division between ration...Yes. Compartmentalism. The division between rationality and emotion. It goes back to the Nature-Grace diad of Aquinas. The answer though is not for economists to deliver their formulae to the accompaniment of excited screams, but for their rationality to work from more realistic presuppositions. Indeed, the market itself is too emotional, showing many characteristics of a bipolar illness.<br />Reason is a fine and valuable tool, but it has to be built from a healthy foundation. The Jesuits are intensely rational, but build on the presupposition that the tenets of the Church are immutable. The most rational economist is going to end up talking nonsense if he (and I use the word deliberately) starts with the premise that the market is the foundation of economics. We know that ecology is the real foundation of economics. It is a slow job turning the supertanker around, but it is happening.DocRichardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08903964792092284406noreply@blogger.com