Author of Give and Take
LinkedIn article
Published October 21, 2013
In 1776, Adam Smith famously wrote: “It is not
from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can
expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”
Economists have run with this insight for
hundreds of years, and some experts think they’ve run a bit too far. Robert
Frank, an economist at Cornell, believes that his profession is squashing
cooperation and generosity. And he believes he has the evidence to prove it.
Consider these data points:
Less charitable giving: in the U.S., economics
professors gave less money to charity than professors in other
fields—including history, philosophy, education, psychology, sociology,
anthropology, literature, physics, chemistry, and biology. More than twice as
many economics professors gave zero dollars to charity than
professors from the other fields.
More deception for personal gain: economics
students in Germany were more likely than
students from other majors to recommend an overpriced plumber when they were
paid to do it.
Greater acceptance of greed: Economics
majors and students who had taken at least three economics courses were more likely than their peers to
rate greed as “generally good,” “correct,” and “moral.”
