what’s wrong with today

Three scientists – a physicist, a chemist, and an economist – are marooned on a desert island. They’ve salvaged a can of beans from the wreck of their ship, but unfortunately, they have no evident means of opening it. They agree that with so much scientific brainpower among them, they can surely complete this simple task. The physicist points to a nearby palm tree and suggests that she will climb the tree and drop the can on a rock below at the proper angle to pop it open. The chemist points out that the beans will be spilled on the ground and suggest that they might use salt water to create a chemical reaction that will rust away the top. The the economist says, “You are both making this simple task too complicated. First, we will assume a can opener.”

Like this economist, when the real world diverges from the conditions necessary to support their preferred policy options, economic rationalists are prone to solve the conflict by assuming the conditions that support their recommendation.

-taken from David Korten’s When Corporations Rule the World