One of the central criticisms Hirschfeld levels against the rational choice model, which undergirds the edifice of economic theory and modeling, concerns the metaphysics of maximization. Specifically, utility maximization assumes that human desires are unbounded, that the desires of homo economicus are insatiable. Economists might object to this assessment, but Hirschfeld responds:
Economists frequently object to this claim, arguing that the rational choice model does not require an assumption that desires are unbounded. But the assumption that desires are unbounded undergirds most of economic thought. This can best be seen in the widespread assumption that, ceteris paribus (all else being equal), more economic growth is preferred to less. Because individuals have infinite desires, growth in wealth is to be desired since it will allow consumers to achieve higher levels of utility...The unstated premise of macroeconomics and development economics is that economic growth is always desirable.We can see this assumption at work in how the well-being of a nation is always gauged by two things: An ever increasing GDP and a stock market that always goes up, up, and up.
The trouble with all this, as Hirschfeld points out, is that unbounded desires and infinite growth produce scarcity. As Hirschfeld says, "Scarcity is inevitable because human desires are infinite while our resources are finite."
This is the dynamic that sits behind a suite of issues: The inability of the planet to sustain infinite economic growth, radical wealth inequality, and the most affluent people in the history of the world feeling strapped for cash. All of this, according to Hirschfeld, is because we lack a basic ability to say "enough." Lacking a global ability to say "enough," we're unable to find that sweetspot where broad prosperity is balanced with environmental sustainability. Lacking an ability to say "enough" massive wealth is increasingly accumulated among the top 1% and fails to be shared with the 99%. And lacking an ability to say "enough" in our own personal lives, we find ourselves wealthy beyond belief compared to ages past, yet massively in debt and increasingly unhappy. Insatiability, unbounded, infinite desires, along with perpetual economic growth, keep pushing and pushing, depleting resources, concentrating wealth, and driving up debt and unhappiness.
As Hirschfeld will go on to argue, this inability to say "enough," to have bounded, finite desires, is rooted in the metaphysical assumptions of the rational choice model. The metaphysical logic of utility maximization, of preferring A over B, is unbounded because having an extra dollar is always going to be preferred over the amount you already have. And a new, better iPhone is always going to be preferred over the one you currently have. The logic of maximization never terminates, it just goes on and on and on. More and more, and better and better, is always preferred. Consequently, without a metaphysics of "enough," we're doomed to scarcity as desires keep outstripping resources.
