Human and Value in Economics - Essay Example

Topic: Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction Human beings are an intelligent group of animals who keep on changing their behavior and lifestyles in order to match the existing and future phenomena (Halperin & Rhoda, 1994). Human beings are also credited with holding and owning material things according to their capability and knowledge of the worth of the things. This brings into view the assertion that some things and materials have more value than others. As further described by Gregory (1997, pp 1), ‘values are those invisible chains that link relations between things to relations between people’.

Through generations, people have linked certain things to value and creating a variation between different goods according to their worth. Later, the valuable goods became subject to selling and buying to acquire a certain status in the society (O`Connell, James & Hawks, 1981). Consequently, an economic environment was created with the valuable but disposable goods being traded in exchange for other goods or currency. In general, the market or economic environment is greatly controlled by the market value of the goods traded (Wilk &Cliggett, 2007).

This further influenced the choice and preference of people in the economy. The following paper will elaborate the notion of value from human behavior and choices made, as well as the factors that influence the choices people make in economic environment while still noting man as a self centered being. The Self-centered Human Being and Value As early as it is written in history about man and his behavior, the need for better, efficient and satisfying goods has also been associated with mankind (Nash, 1961).

In addition, through the development and invention of materials that might enable a person attain more satisfaction, value has been attached to the goods a man acquires. This has also influenced his decision making criteria based on various factors. Humans who are social are credited with acquiring materials and engaging in the economic environment to upgrade and improve the value of the larger community or society. Humans may engage in business ventures to improve their economic health and realize personal goals.

Through such ventures, they would control the price of goods and services that they renders to others in order to maximize returns (Nash, 1961). A person might increase the price of goods he supplies in the market if he’s the only or more preferred supplier, or reduce the prices of certain goods and services to capture a wider market with the ultimate goal of maximizing returns. In addition, he can hold some goods in the stores in order to create an artificial shortage for better selling price when the demand is high (Halperin & Rhoda, 1994).

Here, value is attributed to the quantitative returns that an individual would enjoy. But such a definition would be subject to critic if the market is not monopolistic or if the goods are readily available (Wilk &Cliggett, 2007). Value may also be associated with the amount of money that an employee may earn with respect to the amount of money he spends on the basic needs (Elgar, 1995). For example, he would be short changed if he earned peanuts, while the amount of money he spends on shelter and food being exorbitant.

This would force him either to push for higher wages or opt for cheaper commodities (Elgar, 1995). In addition, he would also quit his employment and look for another job. On the contrary, such a model of defining value would be limited to a situation where the value of such basic commodities is fixed and the employer has set a fixed wage or salary for his employees. Human beings, as explained by Nash (1961), can acquire wealth and materials of high value as a way of improving his economic statuses.

The amount of money or worth attached to the materials or goods would represent the value of the goods. This would be through acquiring such materials as gold, silver, malls and other valuable materials. He would also engage in business ventures where he would employ his skills to acquire wealth. But this model of explaining value of materials owned by a society is also faced by a number of limitations (O`Connell, James & Hawks, 1981). They may include the criteria by which goods are deemed either valuable or the means of acquiring the wealth.

Conclusion Value is defined as the relationship associated with goods and relations with people or the worth attached to material or immaterial things that are owned and held by people. Through amassing and collection of personal wealth and stature, humans are explained to be self-centered beings. Through this, he may engage in various economic endeavors in order to satisfy his wants and desires. But there are limiting factors by which man can acquire personal wealth, for example, the means by which, how, when and why the wealth can be called valuable in order to satisfy the accomplishment of his self-centeredness.

References Elgar, E., 1995. A Handbook of Economic Anthropology. Cheltenham. Gregory, C. A., 1997. Savage Money: The Anthropology and Politics of Commodity Exchange. Harwood academic Publishers. Halperin, & Rhoda, H., 1994. Methodological individualism: structure and agency in economic anthropology. In: Cultural economies: past and present (pp.13-33 (Chapter 1)). University of Texas Press. Nash, N., 1961. The Social Context of Economic Choice in a small society. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

O'Connell, J. F. & Hawks, K., 1981. Alyawara plant use and optimal foraging theory. In Winterhalder, B. & Smith, E. A. Hunter-gatherer foraging strategies: ethnographic and archeological analyses (pp.99-125 (Chapter 5)). University of Chicago Press. Wilk, R. R. & Cliggett, L., 2007. Economics and Cultures: Foundations of Economic Anthropology. Westview Press.