ECON 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Invisible Hand, Political Economy, Robert Heilbroner
Document Summary
Ant colonies across space and time how they work together to create their society: they are similar no matter where they are, though they might look different, queen in charge, always. Wolves: alpha the biggest wolves, male and female, only support one litter per pack. In any case, the social structures appear to be hard-wired, i. e. their social relationships seem to be part of the biological identity. Plan b (when persuasion fails): force, power, coercion: some rules are so obvious and common that we don"t even think about it. E. g. sitting in the audience in a lecture hall, professor decides exam times and content (not students) Custom and tradition: learning skills from family, e. g. if every generation in one"s family was a farmer, the tradition will continue, let"s stick with what we know works . Command: e. g. slave society, people are owned, torture, e. g. Self-interest and markets: buyers & sellers, goods and services traded for money.
