Viewing page 13 of 64

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

14
-Jan 30 - motive for developed countries to give aid to underdev. more pol. than econ.
when we pay taxes, we are trying to maximize

maximizing a sub-category of decision making & games theory

decision-making & maximizing when we vote
((maximizing of [[underline]]subsistence[[/underline]] which econ.; incl luxury - but how about status? is this pol. maximizing?))

(( pol = maximizing status, power, safety))
((econ = maximizing subsistence, comfort))

((rel = ?))

from Firth's "The Soc. Framework of Econ. Org" in [[LeClt?]] Sch (from "Elements of..."):

"The basic concept of economics is the allocation of scarce available resources between [[insert]] (ranked)[[/insert]] realizable human wants with the recognition that alternatives are poss. in each sphere." (p 67)

15
example: in purchasing a coat must consider price, warmth, color & style - must rank these things & juggle 
are maximizing satisfaction (economists would call utility), not overcoats (yet economists can't define utility & utility implies aesthetics ignored)

if worried about a cold snap coming any day, time a constraint
not maximizing if spend long period of time searching for perfect coat

looking for maximum utility for minimum expenditure of resources (incl. time)
mini/max theory
[[strikethrough]][[?]][[/strikethrough]] another example:
if go into diner w/ 3 dollars, sandwich $150 & coffee $50
should I get 1 sand. & 1 coffee + change or 2 sand.
hedge bets by getting sand. -then [[strikethrough]][[?]][[/strikethrough]] decide [[alr?]] full but want coffee - should get 2nd cup or 75ยข donut - what kind of donut
1st unit of consumption generally provides more satisf than 2nd or 3rd,

Transcription Notes:
price of sandwich & coffee is presumably in cents ($1.50, $0.50), although no decimal points are present notes use ((note)) sometimes, as well as (note), in case confused with [[transcription markup]]