by walruss » Fri Oct 10, 2014 4:45 am
Not only is it culturally specific, it never made much sense to me. If you and a stranger were walking down the street together, and somebody came up and gave the stranger $100 out of the blue, most people wouldn't automatically expect to receive any money. And they certainly wouldn't tell the stranger that he couldn't have the money unless they got some as well. And if they did, they'd be jerks. That said, the neoclassical economist should have offered his partner exactly one cent, to give him incentive to accept.
Not only is it culturally specific, it never made much sense to me. If you and a stranger were walking down the street together, and somebody came up and gave the stranger $100 out of the blue, most people wouldn't automatically expect to receive any money. And they certainly wouldn't tell the stranger that he couldn't have the money unless they got some as well. And if they did, they'd be jerks. That said, the neoclassical economist should have offered his partner exactly one cent, to give him incentive to accept.