altruistic economics

2009-11-01T08:38:50Z

Risi:

{{Voice of Freedom|108083|Property, the anarchist perspective}}
{{Voice of Freedom|107341|Gift economy, as a path to anarchic society}}

'''Altruistic Economics''' is a branch of [[economics]] set out by [[user:Risi | Robin Upton]] in [[2004]] in a presentation to the autonomous [[European Social Forum]] at the London School of Economics.

Altruism - definitions - 1. Loving others as oneself. 2. Behaviour that promotes the survival chances of others at a cost to ones own. 3. Self-sacrifice for the benefit of others [Italian: altrui others]
French philosopher Auguste Comte coined the word altruisme (with meaning 3) in 1851, and two years later it entered the English language as altruism. Many considered his ethical system - in which the only moral acts were those intended to promote the happiness of others - rather extreme, so meaning 1 evolved. Now universal in [[evolutionary theory]], meaning 2 was coined by scientists exploring how unselfish behaviour could have evolved. It is applied not only to people (psychological altruism), but also to animals and even plants.

==Altruistic Economics==

By allowing mathematical expression of [[altruism]], Altuistic Economics generalises the standard [[neoclassical economics|neoclassical]] model, which is founded on the ''[[homo economicus]]'' economic model of man. Like the [[Neoclassicism|neoclassical]] model, Altruistic Economics assumes people are maximisers, but it breaks the assumption that their welfare is independent of others. It also abandons the assumption that everyone is identical. Individual human relationships are modeled, so that everyone can specify how they feel about anyone else. [[Sympathy]] for someone is defined as a willingness to forego benefit so that another person may benefit instead. The altruistic model allows people to explicitly declare sympathy for their friends so that other users can be aware of their feelings, and doing so is actually benefiical to the user. Another key feature of altruistic economics is that transactions can be independently evaluated by the parties involved.

Altruistic economics is under active development, but no working system has yet been produced, due to the complexity of implementing a [[Friend-to-friend]] computer infrastructure of personal servers to do the calculations. It therefore remains to be seen whether the aggregate effect of everyone maximising for themselves and their friends will produce an increase in group well being, similar to the aims of the [[Bhutan]]ese notion of [[Gross national happiness|Gross National Happiness]]. If it does, then Altruistic Economics may form a good basis for an [[Internet]] [[gift economy]].

[[Image:constrained_evaluation_(zero-sum).png|thumb|left|308px|The zero-sum constraint of ordinary money.]]
=={{ll|Zero sum}} Economy==

The most effective counter to the spread of altruism is the modern money system, since it is responsible for an unnatural transactional mentality. The inherent conflict in conventional money establishes [[zero-sum]] competitive relationships between people and organizations and hence those who help others necessarily disadvantage themselves. Such a system places an over emphasis on self, which works against the 'greater good' of society, fueling consumerism and accompanying depression.

[[Wikipedia]] is a prominent example of a working gift economy, so it would probably be better described by an Altruistic Economic model than a classical (selfish) one. A [[Game]] in [[Game Theory]] is defined as any situation where the outcome depends on your strategy and those of other players. In a zero sum game the sum of the winnings and losings equal zero. Wikipedia however is a non zero-sum game because people can derive benefit from it without others matching a loss. Overall, Wikipedia is a win-win phenomenon. As such, it violates one of the most well known dictums of [[Neo Classical]] Economics, the pseudo-theory that "there is no such thing as a free lunch".

[[Image:unconstrained_evaluation.png|thumb|right|308px|Altruistic Economic evaluation of a ''win-win'' outcome.]]

The study of [[Game Theory]] is based around finding ideal equilibrium conditions or the [[Nash Equilibrium]] of strategies. New research in Game Theory such as the [[ultimatum game]] is showing the inaccuracy of the [[homo economous]] model of human interaction, sparking greater interest in alternatives, such as those advanced by Altruistic Economists.

==Zero-sum evaluation==

Market proponents such as [[Milton Friedman]] argue that in trade there is never coercion by stating â€œif an exchange between two parties is voluntary, it will not take place unless both parties benefit from itâ€ <ref>Milton Friedman, (1990). ''Free to Choose'', pp. 13. Harcourt</ref>. Upton argues that, this being the case, any system which models transactions as if they were zero-sum in inevitably inaccurate. He points out that in "traditional" economics, every transaction increases one person's wealth and decreases another's and claims that to treat market interactions as if they were a [[zero sum]] game results in friction at the [[price]] [[negotiation]] stage [http://www.altruists.org/ideas/economics/altruistic/non-zero_sum/away_from_win-lose/].
==See also==
* [[Altruism]]
* [[Post-autistic economics]]
* [[Behavioral economics]]
* [[Heterodox economics]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.altruists.org/ae Altruistic Economics homepage]
* [http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2007/7/23/92948/6331 Robin Upton writes on his experiences with classical economics, and how he came to devise the Altruistic Economic model]
* [http://f2f.uni.cc/trust_metrics_f2f_money/ Adding simple and effective trust measurements to F2F P2P networks] is a paper about using a [[Time-based currency]] for trust in F2F.

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[[Category:Economics]]

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altruistic economics