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New Year's greeting

I all readers and readers a want healthy, happy and free new year!

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Ariane and the Austrian School

My small, almost three-year-old daughter, Ariane loves gummy bears. Whenever we are, my wife Hedda , Ariane and I visit the Angel Café Ringstedt in the municipality Bad Bederkesa , she gets the little Ariane by the owner, the great Ariane , a bag of them gift.

The Angel Café Ringstedt , the jelly babies and the small Ariane

If Hedda or I suggest our daughter, but the jelly set aside for later, so we come so with little enthusiasm. Our daughter wants the jelly babies immediately and not later. In other words, it has a high time preference. The benefit of gummy bears the present is worth more to them than their enjoyment in the future. Last Tuesday, the day after Christmas, when we again visited the Angel Café, but everything was different. First was, as usual, the little Ariane of the large Ariane , the gummy bears, but this time two bags, gift. After our daughter had eaten the jelly babies up to three, she said she wanted to break this for the next day. What had happened? We had little time Ariane eaten very many jelly babies. With each gummy bears, which came in her stomach, she took for the value of the next Jelly baby again from. Their subjective value (marginal utility) went to zero. After all, for our Ariane the limit of the gummy bears have become so low that it fell below the value of the gummy bears in the future. The time preference of the small Ariane was now only low. It was, in their view, therefore only reasonable to postpone the enjoyment gummy bears further until the next day.

May be you know this little story before too simple and not particularly interesting? Why, then, the elaborate presentation with time preference and threshold? The answer is: The story illustrates some of the fundamental ideas substantiated by the Carl Menger at the end of the nineteenth century Austrian school of economics.

Carl Menger (1840-1921)

It represents a subjective theory of value, that is, the value of a product based on the personal value estimates consumers and producers, and not on any objectively measurable work values. The value of goods to the consumer decreases, the more he has them available (limit or decreasing marginal utility ). He is then only willing to pay a correspondingly lower price. The time preference is the justification for the authorization of a percentage rate that is paid as compensation for the deferred personal use of the money lent. High time preferences mean including high interest rates and vice versa.

the way, at the end of the small Ariane has eaten up all the jelly babies still. The economic reason prevails not always. But she is already visible in the reflections of a small child, yet alone striking, right?

Jens Christian Heuer

sources and links:

Austrian School

( http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/% C3% 96sterreichische_Schule )

Angel Café Ringstedt

( http://www.engelcafe.de/ )

Old Schoolroller Skates

Christmas greeting

Today, 18:00 in clock, also enjoys

the Invisible Hand (predominantly)

their well-deserved rest ...

all readers

w ünsche me a Merry Christmas!

Jens Christian Heuer

Hacks For B Luetooth Dongle

The Evolution of the Invisible Hand

Adam Smith (1723-1790), Scottish moral philosopher and the founder of modern economics looked at the people not, as is often assumed, as the only pure egoistic drives headed, cold calculation "homo economicus". He stressed in his two major works (The Theory of Moral Feelings and the Wealth of Nations) always present in every person, so-called "sympathy", the ability of people put themselves into a people, to develop, compassion. In it, he saw the basis for the cohesion of human society, among themselves for the exchange of labor produced things and thus for the invisible hand of the market . With this view he was in contrast to many other philosophers of the Enlightenment, the man regarded as almost exclusively concerned for their own benefit and a strong state were necessary to prevent one of the ruthless men with each other should. This state, however, should come through the joint resolution in the form of a social contract about and not by the will of God, as was seen in the Middle Ages (see " The discovery of the invisible hand " below).
right, how was Adam Smith with his more positive image of man as the modern behavioral research. It could always be found which is in the behavior of social animals decisively determined by the need to belong to a group. Recently it was found in some species even the ability to empathize in the same species, even a sense of fairness and something of real market relations, which are controlled by supply and demand.
Here are some examples: The behavioral scientist Frans de Waal, head of Emory University in Atlanta (Georgia, USA), the Primate Research Center, investigated cooperative behavior in monkeys.

Frans de Waal (center right) and his associates (Ermory University)

One of the experiments had been taught capuchin monkeys, a board on wheels, which at a tension spring was attached and on which was a bowl, with attention to the tie rods. The board was so heavy, the work had the monkeys to success have to. The monkeys, each takes two sat in separate cages. It once came to a breakdown. One of the capuchin monkey attacked so quickly after the diet, he let go of the bar before the second monkey had the opportunity to get at his food because the food bowl on the skateboard was retracted by the spring. The empty handed capuchin protested vehemently. Then put the first monkey his food aside and came to the aid of the second monkey. Together they pulled the roller board approached again, so that the second monkey came into its own.

capuchin monkeys (Ermory University)

was obvious at this behavior something like compassion or a sense of fairness in the first monkey in the game when he reacted to the displeasure of the cooperation that had been a second monkey, and helped to the food to come even though he certainly had his own food long ago and therefore at least for the moment no longer dependent on his partner was. Animals and people help each other occasionally, without the helper like this has a direct benefit. The behavioral research is now trying to explain how such behavior could prevail in evolution. Are related to each other helper and helped, it is relatively easy. Who can help a family member, thus increasing its chances of survival, also favors the spread of his own genes, as family members always have a lot of their genes in common. This is also the genes that promote the mutual assistance between family members, more and more widespread. This process is called kin selection. Why are there but also assistance to non-related conspecifics? Even the Russian anarchist Pyotr Kropotkin (1842-1921) was a well accepted explanation today. Kropotkin recognized in humans but also in many animals, a tendency toward mutual aid, which increases the chances of survival for every individual, if all keep it. Modern behavioral research is referred to as reciprocal altruism, the unselfish aid means mutual. Those who are not in the principle of reciprocity holds, ie not later received assistance for revenge, then has to be absolutely excluded in the future provide further assistance, so it works well. This symmetrical principle of mutual help has been observed in many species of monkeys, in dolphins and even fish. Chimpanzees, for example, do in the wild hunting together on smaller monkeys. The prey is by the person who catches it then finally, under the equitable distribution of hunting parties. Those who have not participated, even if it is the head of the chimpanzee group gets from nothing. Frans de Waal examined this willingness to share in his primate research center. But one of the chimpanzees raised there was given as a tasty watermelon. The owner was soon surrounded by chimpanzees, which he made something. Those who had gotten very much, distributed the food on. Here, the respective property was respected almost always, aggressive confrontations over food came almost never happens. The owner of certain always alone on the distribution of food, whatever their social rank. The chances to get something
, it was observed for the chimpanzees were the largest that the Food owners had previously maintained the coat thoroughly. The exchange grooming (grooming) to food proved to be more specific as partners. So there is in chimpanzees something like "gratitude". It is interesting that the close relationship between individual performance and subsequent return, especially in less close relationship between chimpanzees play a role. In contrast, true friendship is not taken so much there is balance of give and take.

chimpanzee (Wikipedia)

Similar differences also are known to the people rule.
it now but were even properly functioning markets found in the animal world ...

The baby market in baboons in South Africa:
Female baboons feel irresistible not only to their own young, but also to those attracted to other females, of course, quite particularly strong when they do not have any children of their own. They welcome the strange boy with love and try to touch them. The leave their mothers usually not, unless they receive prior approval by the interested baboon an extensive grooming. Through this service time with the Pavia alien baby is purchased. The Price of this service is dependent directly from the supply of babies. In baboon groups with only a few young mothers achieve a higher price, so a longer grooming, as with many groups in Pavia babies.

Pavia Mother and Child

The cleaner wrasse cleaning stations:

cleaner wrasse live on reefs in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia Pacific. They are stationary and maintain cleaning stations, where a male living with a harem 3:00 to 6:00 female, and to which are other fish in order of parasites and dead to leave skin clean. The drawing of the cleaner fish with striking vertical stripes is a recognizable characteristic of other fish. Even predators behave at the cleaning stations entirely peaceful, wait until it's your turn and let the wrasse also in the mouth and gill cavity in the swim to cleanse it there. Small movements signal the "customers" when they no longer want and leave the brush their body cavities must. The cleaner fish are fed and parasites their customers, trade brings benefits for both sides.

with her two cleaner wrasse Customer

There are "regulars" and "walk". The regular customers are stationary living near the fish cleaning station with small districts. The walk-in customers consists of fish that have either larger stations or long walks. The walk-in customers are served by the cleaner wrasse preferred because they can avoid long waiting times for other cleaning stations. For regular customers, this possibility is not and must therefore wait patiently.

Wages in capuchin monkeys:
capuchin squirrel hunt together. The All proceeds of the hunt ends up with the person who caught the prey at the end. This "paid" then the other monkeys that would otherwise have in the future, little inclination to support him again in the hunt. The prey is then distributed always just. This observation was from Frans de Waal also tested experimentally. Here again the already described experimental set came with two Capuchin monkeys and the roller board is used. This time, however, was only one food bowl filled with apple slices, for example, while the other food bowl was empty. In turn could be used only skateboard together. Both monkeys were able to consult each other's food bowl well. The cooperation between the two capuchin monkeys went fine and the one with the full food bowl was smart enough to reward his supporters generously.

cucumbers or grapes against pebbles:
A colleague Frans de Waal brought capuchin monkeys at the Swap. This quickly realized that they pebbles with which they played normally like to exchange with the researcher to delicious cucumber. Then gave the researcher but individual capuchin monkeys in exchange for the much more desirable grapes, while the other monkeys were still pieces of cucumber. The cucumbers recipients felt they were treated badly, were furious and refused any further exchanges. They even threw already received the cucumber pieces and their pebbles away and protested against the unjust "payment". This behavior appears unfavorable at first glance, after all, is a piece of cucumber definitely better than nothing. In the long term the whole thing but looks quite different. The rejection of an unjust trade saved from being exploited in the future to be and in turn, is crucial for a good and long-term "relationship." The experiment was repeated with chimpanzees and brought the same results. Were involved in chimpanzees but more friends, so they took the difference in treatment out relatively calmly. You evaluate your relationships seem over a longer period of time and look at the best friendship as a good guarantee against cheating and exploitation. The Invisible Hand thus acts during the biological evolution, especially in animals with higher intelligence, it solves the principle of the law of the jungle from growing.

Jens Christian Heuer
Sources:
Frans de Waal Homepage
http://www.emory.edu/LIVING_LINKS/de_Waal.html