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Agalmics: The Marginalization of Scarcity

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Thanks to all who have commented thus far. The comments from working economists and sociologists were of particular interest, and I can see that they are going to produce some changes in the essay. In particular, gentle reader, realize as you read that I do not consider agalmias to be gift cultures per se; traditional gift cultures are largely pre-industrial, and based as much on scarcity as any modern technological state. Also, when you read my games-theory comments, don't infer that I believe economies are zero-sum games. While one or both "legs" of an economic transaction can most conveniently be expressed as a zero-sum game, that does not extend to economies as a whole, nor even necessarily to a single complete economic transaction. I'll plan to discuss these points in more detail in follow-ons to this essay. Finally, frequent comments have led me to conclude that an important element is missing from the definition of agalmics. Agalmic goods are non-scarce goods, but they are often

The Marginalization of Scarcity by Robert Levin Thanks to all who have commented thus far. The comments from working economists and sociologists were of particular interest, and I can see that they are going to produce some changes in the essay. In particular, gentle reader, realize as you read that I do not consider agalmias to be gift cultures per se; traditional gift cultures are largely pre-industrial, and based as much on scarcity as any modern technological state. Also, when you read my games-theory comments, don't infer that I believe economies are zero-sum games. While one or both…

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