Contribution of Lionel Robbins’ essay to economic psychology

Abstract

Nowadays economic psychology is a field of science that has serious potential to compete classical economic theories. Many contemporary authors are interested in the discipline which is proved by the variety of emerging branches of economic psychology. Some of them are economists, other psychologists, but a small percentage of them have both economic and psychological education. This pattern explains some serious misunderstandings in the scientific literature in the field. The lack of understanding of both sciences at the same time leads to extremes in the conclusions, which in turn are not accepted as universally valid by economists and psychologists. Мoreover, the literature on the subject written by economists and psychologists seems very different. Economists attach more importance to the results of economic choice, while psychologists analyze primarily the causes for it. However, the connection between the two disciplines is indisputable. Despite the variety of branches of economic psychology, it is worth paying attention to the first work in the field written by an economist, which gives fundamental answers that modern scientists seem to miss. Lionel Robbins essay represents an extraordinary balance between the economic and the psychological issues, united in an ideal symbiosis.