Boston Basic Income #132: Cultural Incentives
Details
We often discuss the extent to which the economy needs labor to produce its output. But to what extent do people need to work jobs in order to live meaningful and fulfilling lives? Is it a coincidence that people happen to have a "need" to do the very thing that society expects of them? To what extent do cultural and economic incentives shape human psychology?
Does it become a problem if the economy needs less labor? Is it a problem if basic income leaves some people jobless? How adaptable are psychology and culture to these kinds of changes?
The following clip from Downton Abbey suggests that norms around work are not universal.
https://youtu.be/zhfpBW-nUWk
We have two featured guests joining us this week: Bethany Burum and Erez Yoeli. Bethany is a social psychologist and lecturer at Harvard University. Erez is an economist and director of the MIT Sloan School's Applied Cooperation Team. Together they study cultural evolution, explain hidden incentives, and use game theory to describe human social behavior.
For optional reading, we have an April 2020 Guardian article by Lauren Aratani entitled, "Experts warn of mental health fallout from mass US unemployment."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/03/mental-health-coronavirus-mass-unemployment-us-experts
https://youtu.be/yUo_doLnz2c — BBI #56: Workism
https://youtu.be/qi9TrcUaxX8 — BBI #102: Idleness and Leisure
https://youtu.be/VG4D5KcOHO8 — BBI #116: Power to Say No
You can access the Zoom meeting here:
https://zoom.us/j/402968564
By default, everyone will remain muted in Zoom.
We start and end the discussion by getting opening and closing thoughts from the featured guests.
If you would like to speak, click the "raise hand" button on the "Participants" tab. Alex will unmute you when it's your turn.
Send Alex a message via Zoom chat to let him know if you'd like to follow up on something specific.
Featured guests will have priority on speaking.
Starting at 7pm, we will make introductions and establish parameters for the discussion. The YouTube live stream will begin at 7:10pm.
The discussion will be streamed live at this URL:
https://www.youtube.com/bostonbasicincome/live
It will also be available in podcast form in the following days:
https://anchor.fm/bostonbasicincome
Image Credit: Pacheco et al.
CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/deed.en)
(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Social_Norms_of_Cooperation_in_Small-Scale_Societies.png)