the.com/homo economicus
the fictional human who calculates lifetime utility before choosing a sandwich.
means an economic model of a person who always acts rationally and selfishly to maximize their own benefit.
from coined in the 19th century by critics of john stuart mill's economic writing, which assumed humans pursue wealth with single-minded logic; the term stuck as shorthand for classical economics' idealized rational actor.
never existsno real human has ever matched the model.
behavioral economicsan entire field built on disproving him.
nobel baitkahneman and thaler won prizes debunking him.
for instance
ultimatum game — real players reject unfair splits; homo economicus never would
efficient market hypothesis — assumes every trader is him, markets keep proving otherwise
richard thaler's nudge — 2008 book built entirely on his failures