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Institutions hold consumption on a leash: an evolutionary economic approach to the future of consumption

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  • Jason Potts

    (RMIT University)

Abstract

As first suggested by Keynes (1930), much thinking about the future of consumption starts with claims about future income, technology or demographics, perhaps concocted in a growth model, and then considers what consumption will look like, as a separate question, given those priors. A different approach starts one step further back with inquiry into the type of institutions that would produce such evolutionary growth. You then ask how those same institutions would shape consumption. I argue that the future of consumption depends on income and innovation, which themselves depend on the evolution of institutions. I suggest that this is an evolutionary economic approach to the future of consumption.

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  • Jason Potts, 2017. "Institutions hold consumption on a leash: an evolutionary economic approach to the future of consumption," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 239-250, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:27:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s00191-015-0437-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s00191-015-0437-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Andreas Chai, 2017. "Rethinking the economic possibilities of our grandchildren: what is the future of consumption?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 215-219, April.

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