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THE ECONOMICS OF

RATIONALITY

The concept of the rational economic agent is at the heart of modern economics.

Mainstream economic theory seems unable to develop without the assumption that agents

proceed by finding the optimal means to a well-defined end. Yet despite its centrality

many economists find this concept of rationality of little use when trying to explain a

wide range of economic phenomena.

This volume contains a number of critical perspectives on the treatment of rationality

in economics. They are drawn from a variety of subdisciplines within economics. Insights

from such diverse areas as game theory, experimental economics, psychology, post-

Keynesian and institutional economics cast considerable doubt on whether a unitary

conception of rationality within economics is possible or indeed desirable.

Bill Gerrard is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of York. He has previously

held positions at the Universities of Leeds and Manitoba and at Unilever plc. He has

written in a number of key areas of economics: methodology, macroeconomics, the

economics of J.M.Keynes and industrial economics. His publications include The Theory

of the Capitalist Economy (Blackwell 1989) and a co-edited collection of essays on

Keynes.

THE ECONOMICS OF

RATIONALITY

Edited by

Bill Gerrard

London and New York

First published 1993 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.

“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of

thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.”

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York,

NY 10001

by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including

photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission

in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue reference for this book is available

from the British Library ISBN 0-415-06875-4

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN 0-203-01002-7 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-15114-3 (Adobe e-Reader Format)

ISBN 0-415-06875-4 (Print Edition)

Gerrard (ed) - The Economics of Rationality.pdf