[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> Hi armchairs,
>
> I have a rather naive question that I hope you dont find inappropiate for
> this list:
>
> Stigler & Becker's "De gustibus non est disputandum" (1977) piece is in
> almost all core microeconomics reading lists I am aware of... and many may
> consider it as the (almost) definitive word in choice theory treatment of
> preferences.
>
> But what is the cash value of the approach nowadays? We hear from choice
> anomalies in almost all fields of economics, game and decision theory, etc,
> so I wonder if the argument set forth in that piece still holds water, if at
> all...
I think that a good majority of economists stand by S&B's argument that
"You can explain anything with preferences, and therefore nothing."
Morever, the anomalies literature doesn't really contradict S&B, so long
as all people exhibit the same anomalies given the same prices and
income.
I think the real challenge to S&B comes not from cognitive psychology,
but from personality psychology, where the heterogeneity of human
preferences is well-established. (Shameless self-promotion - I'm
working on a piece that makes this point).
--
Prof. Bryan Caplan [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan
"We may be dissatisfied with television for two quite different
reasons: because our set does not work, or because we dislike
the program we are receiving. Similarly, we may be dissatisfied
with ourselves for two quite different reasons: because our body
does not work (bodily illness), or because we dislike our
conduct (mental illness)."
--Thomas Szasz, *The Untamed Tongue*
