The Indian Economist: Behavioural Economics, Psychology and Free Trade August 17, 2016
Posted by OromianEconomist in Economics.Tags: Behavioural Economics, economics, Free trade, Psychology and Free Trade
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The transaction “utility” (economists’ term for satisfaction) compares the price one thinks is justified (the “reference price”) to the actual price they have to pay. If reference price is less than or equal to the actual price, humans get satisfied.
For free-trade skeptics, buying a relatively varied and less expensive basket of commodities is an alluring development. However, the transaction utility (satisfaction) is severely negative. This is because they are not willing to pay the price of substantial layoffs and unemployment at home (incidents that they perceive chiefly stem from globalisation) in order to get the goods for cheap.
Whether they are right or wrong is another matter, but the heavy moral cost they face because of perceived guilty conscience is too high. This results in a dissatisfaction with the current state of free trade and borderless transactions. In short, they suffer from a negative overall utility.
read more at:-
http://theindianeconomist.com/behaviour-economics-psychology-free-trade/
Oromian Economist 
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