"Why do we have different disciplines of economics, political science and sociology anymore? Don't we need to rethink these divisions that were carved out a century ago, and reorganize the American academy in a way that takes account of the fact all of these disciplines have changed, and none of the existing barriers make really any sense whatsoever?" inquires Ed Glaeser.
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| Gary Becker, receiving the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992 |
Professor [Gary] Becker’s Nobel Lecture was his sharpest defense against these charges [i.e. that his "world was populated by a hyper-rational economic man, obsessed with maximizing his wealth"], and he recounted how he “tried to pry economists away from narrow assumptions about self-interest.” Instead, he said, “behavior is driven by a much richer set of values and preferences.” Purposeful decision making doesn’t mean that behavior is driven by financial concerns, but rather, in his view, “individuals maximize welfare, as they conceive it, whether they be selfish, altruistic, loyal, spiteful or masochistic," writes Justin Wolfers, with The New York Times.
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