, laid out thirty years ago how it made more sense to think of genes propagating themselves over time, regardless of the happiness of the individuals who carried them. In the same way, to say evolution of the economy is a highly efficient search algorithm to find the best ways to adapt to a changing environment says nothing at all about the happiness or welfare about the individuals in the economy. And that is what we care about.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Who is it for?
One problem with seeing the economy as evolving - generating variability and selecting the most successful outcomes - is that evolution is not necessarily at all good for the individuals subject to it. Richard Dawkin's famous book,The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author, laid out thirty years ago how it made more sense to think of genes propagating themselves over time, regardless of the happiness of the individuals who carried them. In the same way, to say evolution of the economy is a highly efficient search algorithm to find the best ways to adapt to a changing environment says nothing at all about the happiness or welfare about the individuals in the economy. And that is what we care about.
, laid out thirty years ago how it made more sense to think of genes propagating themselves over time, regardless of the happiness of the individuals who carried them. In the same way, to say evolution of the economy is a highly efficient search algorithm to find the best ways to adapt to a changing environment says nothing at all about the happiness or welfare about the individuals in the economy. And that is what we care about.
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