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THE SYLLOGISM OF NEURO-ECONOMICS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

Camillo Padoa-Schioppa*
Affiliation:
Washington University (in St. Louis)

Abstract

If neuroscience is to contribute to economics, it will do so by the way of psychology. Neural data can and do lead to better psychological theories, and psychological insights can and do lead to better economic models. Hence, neuroscience can in principle contribute to economics. Whether it actually will do so is an empirical question and the jury is still out. Economics currently faces theoretical and empirical challenges analogous to those faced by physics at the turn of the twentieth century and ultimately addressed by quantum theory. If “quantum economics” will emerge in the coming decades, it may well be founded on such concepts as cognitive processes and brain activity.

Type
Essay
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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