The Economic Ideas of Ordinary People: From Preferences to Trade

Human actions result from a compound of animal desires, constraints and the words we use to talk about them. Modern economics has developed complex theories to explain the operation of both desires and constraints, but has neglected the language used when discussing them. "The Economics of Ordinary People" discusses how we talk about our economic activities and how our talk influences our action. Such fundamental questions as why people trade, or why they contribute to public finances when they know that in itself their contribution will not be decisive, can be transformed if what people say about their decisions is taken into account. The approval or disapproval of one's peers act as powerful motive forces. In stressing the importance of these forms of communication, Levy sides with the classical Scottish political economists (whose work he discusses at some length) and against the behavioural psychologists. This book should be of interest to lecturers and students of economics.