Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory
| Author | Armen A. Alchian |
|---|---|
| Published | 1950 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Armen Alchian’s 1950 paper dropping the assumption that firms knowingly maximize profit: under genuine uncertainty nobody can compute the maximum, so what looks like optimizing in aggregate is selection — firms that happen to profit survive and are imitated, the rest exit. |
Where I heard about it
- Brendan McCord — on his Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, opening Institutions, Property Rights, and the Law alongside Coase, linked as a PDF of the paper. Shared March 2026; full transcription on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.
About this edition
This is a journal article, not a book — published in the Journal of Political Economy.
Connections
- The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this card came from.
- Economics — the field whose core behavioural postulate the paper reframes.
- Institutions — selection among firms as an institutional rather than individual mechanism.
- Innovation — trial, imitation and survival as the actual engine.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.