Distinguished Visiting Speaker: The Chaotic Evolution of the Universe | Academic Seminar

July 16, 2026

• Title: the Chaotic Evolution of the Universe | Academic Seminar
• Speaker: Professor Don Saari | Perimeter Institute
• Date: Thursday, March. 9, 2006
• Time: 4:00 PM
• Room: Bob Room, Perimeter Institute

Summary

Although evidence accrues in biology, anthropology and experimental economics that homo sapiens is a cooperative species, the reigning assumption in economic theory is that individuals optimize in an autarkic manner (as in Nash and Walrasian equilibrium). I here postulate an interdependent kind of optimizing behavior, called Kantian. It is shown that in simple macro-economic models, when there are negative externalities (such as congestion effects from use of a commonly owned resource) or positive externalities (such as a social ethos reflected in individuals’ preferences), Kantian equilibria dominate Nash-Walras equilibria in terms of efficiency. While economists schooled in Nash equilibrium may view the Kantian behavior as utopian, there is some – perhaps much -- evidence that it exists. If cultures evolve through group selection, the hypothesis that Kantian behavior is more prevalent than we may think is supported by the efficiency results here demonstrated.

Biography

Professor of Economics and Mathematics and the Director of the Institute for Mathematic and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Irvine