The Biopsychosocial model (BPS) seeks
to understand economic social development through the Epistemology,
Anthropology, and Ethics. All economic systems are fundamentally based in human
development. By broadening the scope of economic theory beyond the limited
perspectives of finance a greater “truth” can be found. The authors Canadas & Giordano (2010)
postulate that using additional constructs helps balance out the limited
assumptions of major economic models.
All economics is based off of innovative
development. This development is inherently social by nature but also includes
biological development and psychological processes. Humans make decisions at a
very fundamental neurological level which impacts the decisions they make. These decisions impact how the economy
develops and the decisions society makes.
Epistemological Component: Understanding how people make
decisions impacts the overall success of the economy and the way in which the
economy leans. Milton Friedman believed that all predictions of the market
could be wrong but are approximately true; at least to those making the
assumptions. Each market works under basic economic assumptions that impact the
way people think, how they obtain resources and how they spend those resources.
Anthropological Approach: The total human and all of his
benefits and detractors live within the economic system. Seeing humans through
a biological, social, and psychological approach helps in understanding how
they make decisions to further their interests and survival. Understanding and predicting
human behavior can help in solving economic problems.
The Ethical Component: All resource allocation decisions
are moral questions. According to von Hayek, “economic activity provides the
material means for all our needs” (von Hayek, 1962, 49). Each human makes economic
decisions based upon how fair and equitable distribution of rewards should be
realized. Economics should consider the common good and social stability within
its policy decisions.
To the
authors, humans innovate their environment. This innovation comes from
collaborative efforts that create “collective intelligence” that helps to
create greater tools for resource attainment. Economics is often focused on
high ended and easily measurable economic tools but often forgets the “real”
factors that lead to economic activity. Most economists are now coming to the
conclusion that simply money measuring is not enough and human behavior must be
part of the process of prediction.
As humans
developed throughout history economic exchanges encouraged the development of
collective intelligence. This collective intelligence comes from how people
make decisions that lead to divisions of labor, mutual beneficial knowledge,
and facilitate human development and speeds up cultural and economic
development. It is humans interacting with each other and developing off of
each other that lead to the highest societal and economic growth.
Canadas, A. & Alejandro, G. (2010). A Philosophically-based Biopsychosocial Model of Economics: Evolutionary
Perspectives of Human Resource Utilization and the Need for an Integrative,
Multi-disciplinary Approach to Economics. International
Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 5 (8).
Von
Hayek, Friedrich A. The moral element in free enterprise. In The morality of capitalism, ed
Mark W.
Hendrickson, 49-57. New York: Irvington-on-Hudson, 1962.
