Ordinaries: Big Macs & Economics: Why we love foods that kill us

Abstract

Neoclassical and behavioral economics disagree over the human consumption of dietary fat, a pervasive behavior that increases morbidity and mortality. Neoclassical economics assumes that people are choosing optimal diets, trading off utility and money today in return for disease and early death. In contrast, behavioral economics argues people are making poor dietary decisions. Evolutionary biology suggests that, for our human ancestors, dietary choices were optimal, in a constrained manner consistent with the neoclassical economic model. In the modern environment, which has more and different foods, biology provides no support for the neoclassical view.