I’ve been struggling with the RTE model’s central metaphor — the economy as ecosystem. Morgensen’s bizarrely optimistic proposal is a good example of why I think I need another metaphor.
The ecosystem metaphor’s got a lot going for it. It’s very rich and evocative. It’s also got a lot of room for being playful — I think “ecosystem” and goofy examples like lionesses come to mind.
But there’s one issue it really doesn’t handle well — the power to fundamentally alter the way the ecosystem works. Sure, humans can; that’s what global warming is about. But for the most part other critters can’t. So when it comes to incorporating how Wall Street pushes for “deregulation” or drug companies polluting the information stream that doctors and patients have to make decisions, the ecosystem metaphor just isn’t working for me.
So, I’m going to play around with a new metaphor: the economy as a game whose rules we can partly shape.
UPDATE: a friend nicely summed up one of the advantages of the game/rules metaphor:
Sports and games are two areas where rules are understood to be made up, not just “natural” forces of the market.
