Twenty Years of Neuroeconomics

Historically, economics has leaned heavily on the useful assumption that preferences are stable, and has mostly been disinterested in where preferences come from (and when they change). However, there are many ideas from neuroscience and adjacent sciences about the origin of preferences. This talk reviewed a few of these ideas: Innateness;  personal and observational learning; acculturation; and how cortical reuse constrains what cultural preferences are ‘chosen’ by the brain.