On 4/30/07, Julio Huato <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Julio writes: > Choice theory is not the only way one can learn about the
world. But, again, *if you use choice theory*, you cannot (or should not) appeal to preferences magically changing outside of the model from selfish to altruistic. That's an admission of failure.
there is an alternative to the assumption of given tastes and that of changing tastes as a _deus ex machina_. Tastes could be made endogenous in a systematic way, as I do in my paper on Hobbes, Locke, & Rousseau (at http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine/hlr/HLR.pdf). In more orthodox terms, in macro, expectations of the future play a very similar role to that of tastes in micro. The big difference is that expectations are not taken as exogenously given, but are instead determined endogenously, reflecting historical and current data. (I'm deliberately ignoring RatEx, which seems to be witchcraft.) The dynamics of a society _might_ produce expectations that are stabilizing. That is, if people expect that ripping off someone will cause counterattacks, that might (under certain circumstances) stabilize what looks like a disastrous prisoner's dilemma. Preferences might follow a similar pattern of endogenous determination. (I apologize to the Wiccan community for comparing them to RatEx.) -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
