I guess Mr. Crusoe is the only individual that has so many economists helping out with his economic problems. True is, its starting to get a bit sickening now when i see his case sited over and over again in so many research papers. Just out of curiosity, which ground breaking masterpiece is this example from originally?
2007-02-18 11:24:42 · 3 answers · asked by Cici Y 2 in Social Science ➔ Economics
yeah i do know where the character is from and what robinson crusoe economy is. im just wondering who was the first economist to establish this analogy. ;)
2007-02-18 18:05:27 · update #1
This example is based upon the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. It is about a man who gets marooned on an island, and has to survive on his own. As a result, it is the perfect example for an economist talking about a one person economy where the individual has to supply all of his wants himself. In the book, Robinson Crusoe had to learn to farm and hunt, and make all the comforts of living such as chairs and such that he wanted. This is where the Robinson Crusoe economy model came from.
2007-02-18 16:02:01 · answer #1 · answered by theeconomicsguy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If this came from a novel, then I want to propose something we can call the Calpurnia Economy. She was a character in Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird." Her son Zeebo was the only one in her church who was ever taught how to read print in a book; she taught him. Who taught his Mom how to read print in a book? What is more important is that Harper Lee teamed her with Miss Maudie and Alexandra to give some nurturing to the main narrator of the story, Scout Finch. Scout lost her mother, but so did Mayella Ewell. Mayella was not given three ladies to give nurturing. So, when a child (daughter or son) is being raised by only one parent - here comes the "economy" of the Calpurnia type - then at least three ladies in the neighborhood (or town) will help get her/him to adulthood. You like this? One alternative is to have the three ladies do an "intervention" at the Ewell house (but you have to know this story/book/movie). And Zeebo? Well, mothers hurry first word learning and this is a yet-to-be-developed tangent of Calpurnia Economy.
Don't you just love literature applied to "explain" life?
2007-02-25 08:27:39 · answer #2 · answered by clophad 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Murray Rothbard was the first one to use this analogy in his book "Man, Economy and State". He starts with "Crusoe economics," that is with the individual actor. Then, he introduces the basics of economic reasoning and afterwards he complicates the economic model gradually.
2007-02-21 09:04:23 · answer #3 · answered by daniel_cohadier 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋