Stephen Monrad

When the British were preparing to pull out of India, they expressed concern that there would be chaos when they withdrew. Gandhi replied “Yes, but it would be OUR chaos.”

Over the past few posts, I have been arguing that we aren’t very wise. We don’t know what we really need and make lots of mistakes. I often wonder what the point of increasing economic production is when it is so clear that much of what we do is simply wasted. If we aren’t making the world a better place to live in, what are we accomplishing?

The answer, I think, is embedded in Gandhi’s response to the British. What we want is control over our own destiny. Freedom may lead to missteps and even blunders. However, we seem to want to have control over our lives even if it hurts us. A problem of our own making is better than someone else’s solution.

Even if we aren’t rational all the time, we like to be able to choose. Perhaps the purpose of economics isn’t to make the world a better place. Perhaps the purpose of economics is simply to expand the options that are available, both good and bad.