normative

Find Motivation Before Judging Efficiency

Economists reduce everything to utility maximization mainly so they can make efficiency statements, but Adam Smith would say there is time enough for efficiency judgments later; first one should find out on the ground why people actually do what they do -- their immediate motivations and emotions.

normativepending

Speaker

Vernon Smith

Evidence Quote

I did it because you want to be able to make an efficiency statement. You want to be able to see if, well, is this outcome efficient or is it not? And I think Adam Smith would say, hey, there's time enough for that; let's first find out, on the ground, why people do this.

Source

Vernon Smith on Adam Smith and the Human EnterpriseEconTalk
Created: 6/13/2026, 12:22:45 AM

My Notes

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