Peter Turchin

Peter Turchin is an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Connecticut and Vice President of the Evolution Institute. He is author of Ages of Discord. Web site: http://peterturchin.com/ Twitter: @Peter_Turchin

Does Capitalism Kill Cooperation?

Evidence that innovation and growth isn’t based on economic self-interest.

By Peter Turchin One of the chief reasons I became an advocate of the Cultural Multilevel Selection (CMLS) theory is that it wonderfully clarifies the relationship between competition and cooperation. Competition between groups (up to […]

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What Economics Models Really Say

Why is there such an enormous gulf between what economists know and what they say in public?

By Peter Turchin A Review of Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science by Dani Rodrik (Norton, 2015) The blurb on the jacket of Economics Rules says, “In this sharp, masterful book, Dani […]

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The Pipe Dream of Anarcho-Populism

elites, hierarchy, and large scale society

By Peter Turchin I was interviewed by BBC for their show Analysis a few years ago. You can listen to it here. A good summary is on the Equality by Lot blog. In the show Jeremy […]

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What Is the Role of Morality in a Capitalist Economy?

Does the economic orthodoxy subscribe to the popular mantra “greed is good”?

By Peter Turchin In September 1970 Milton Friedman published an article in The New York Times Magazine, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits.” Friedman, who has received the Nobel Prize in […]

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Inequality of Wealth. Inequality of Health.

The biological effects of wealth disparity

By Peter Turchin Three years ago I published an essay on the biological effects of wealth disparity titled Inequality of Wealth. Inequality of Health, which is reproduced below. It discusses the new (at the time) […]

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