In economics, we are often presented with the benchmark of a perfectly competitive market, in which a large number of buyers and sellers trade homogenous products with perfect knowledge regarding price and utility. The only feature Camberwell Sunday Market shares with this benchmark is a large number of buyers and sellers.
Are Consumers Really Rational?
Much of consumer choice theory relies on the notion of individuals as economic agents; that is, beings of absolute rationality who don’t struggle with everyday problems like self-control and decision-fatigue. These agents conduct marginal analysis to extract every drop of wellbeing from seemingly routine decisions. In the late 70s, however, psychologists began to interfere with …