Why it is Hard to Understand Economics
According to Alan Fiske, whose own introduction to the subject can be read here.
[…] all relationships are built from exactly four kinds of interactions.
Fiske labels these communal sharing, equality matching, authority ranking and market pricing. Here’s what he means:
Communal sharing is how you treat your immediate family: All for one and one for all. Or as Marx put it: From each according to ability, to each according to need.
Equality matching, by contrast, means we all take turns. From kindergarten to the town meeting, it’s all about fair shares, reciprocity, doing your part.
Authority ranking is how tribes function, not to mention armies, corporations and governments. Know your place, obey orders, and hail to the chief.
Market pricing, of course, is the basis of economics. It’s what we do whenever we weigh costs and benefits, trade up (or down), save or invest.
Don’t get Fiske wrong: He’s not saying that each relationship in your life fits into one of these four slots. Rather, these are paradigms – mental models – that we use to help make sense of our interactions.
When there are conflicts, moreover, Fiske maintains it’s often because we aren’t all using the same model.
Andrew Cassel, column in the Philidelphia Inquirer
[x]#2297 fan maandag 4 december 2006 @ 00:00:13
