Samuel Bowles

This, of course, we will never be able to find any causal evidence on this aspect, but it's more looking at the interplay between cultural reforms and resulting preferences.

We are considering models such as the one developed by Samuel Bowles, which is a famous economist, which has developed models to analyze the equilibrium between how cultural aspects and reform can shape preferences, so in an indigenous way.

So it's a more flexible way to analyze how reforms can shape preferences and vice versa.

So we will try to look at some reforms that occur where we could think that they have not been influenced by the preferences of people.

The premise is that instead of building physical infrastructure, the modern economy has ballooned by creating an infinite loop of rent-seeking, compliance, and transaction costs.

To understand the mechanics of the paper trade, we really have to look at the concept of guard labor, which was coined by economists Samuel Bowles and Arjun Jayadev.

Guard labor.

Guard labor is work that does not produce any tangible good or essential service.

And they did use input-output models to some extent.

I know people like Sam Bowles, who consulted, I think, for the Cubans at some point.

It was ironic that Leontief, who faked a fatal disease in order to get out of the Soviet Union, ended up creating the tool that was probably the most useful tool they had.

But I think the answer that we're pushing is we need both.