1st Edition
Economic Biology and Behavioral Economics The Prophesy of Alfred Marshall
Economic Biology and Behavioral Economics: The Prophesy of Alfred Marshall explores the prophesy of Alfred Marshall, the grand synthesizer of neoclassical economics, that the "Mecca of the economist lies in economic biology".
The book presents the proof of that prophesy through examination and establishment of the fundamental biological science necessary and then applying that science to the examination of current economic theory. In doing so, the book focuses primarily on the fundamentals of neoclassical economic theory— which is the reigning theory and the general framework of which is taught as "science" in first courses in college economics. These courses are at best an idealization, if not an ideology, of the discipline—presented to fresh minds misleadingly as confirmed science. The book examines the bases and the history of these idealizations, points to the sources of their error from the biological perspective and suggests a path forward for the discipline. Through this process, the book demonstrates the power of the biological perspective anticipated by Marshall.
This book provides invaluable reading for anyone interested in the future of economics and economic theory, and particularly those interested in behavioral economics and neuroeconomics.
Part 1: The Biological Fundamentals
Chapter 2: Foundations: Evolutionary Brain Science in the 21st Century
Chapter 3: Our Mammalian Heritage: A Dual Motive Neurobehavioural Model
Chapter 4: The Dynamic Algorithms of Social Behaviour
Chapter 5: The Physiology of Social Behaviour
Chapter 6: The Organic, Homeostatic Equation of our Neural Architecture
Chapter 7: Physics vs. Social Science: Some Differences
Part 2: Biological Linkages to the Discipline of Economics
Chapter 8: Family, Gift, and Market
Chapter 9: Adam Smith and the Market
Chapter 10: The Invisible Hand as a Neural Algorithm
Chapter 11: General Equilibrium Theory: From Newtonian Physics to Organic Dynamics
Chapter 12: The Social Brain and the Idealized Version of Price Theory
Chapter 13: Calculus and Neural Algorithms in Price Theory
Chapter 14: Further Application of the Basic Homeostatic Equation to Economics
Chapter 15: Self-Interest and the Fallacy of Self-Reference
Chapter 16: Hayek: Wishful Thinking and a not so Spontaneous Order
Chapter 17: Nash: Modeling Equilibrium with Beautiful Mind, Beautiful Equations
Part 3: The Wider Context
Chapter 18: The Emergence and Promise of Neuroeconomics
Chapter 19: The Larger Context: The Stiff Upper Lip, Original Sin, and Western Science
Chapter 20: Evolutionary Neuroethology and Inclusive Fitness
Chapter 21: Social Exchange and the Structure of Society
Chapter 22: Conclusion
Biography
Gerald A. Cory, Jr., Former Senior Fellow, Graduate Studies and Research, San Jose State University (Retired)
