Becker defines economics as the science of systematic environmental responses

Evidence

Homo reconomicus is someone who accepts reality. Rational conduct is any conduct which is sensitive to modifications in the variables ofthe environment and which responds to this in a non-random way, in a systematic way, and economics can therefore be defined as the science of the systematic nature of responses to environmental variables. — Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics, 1405

Categorization

• DEFINE: Becker radicalizes homo economicus into ‘someone who accepts reality’ — any systematic, non-random response to environmental variables, far beyond rational optimizing.
• XREF: This connects to the reader’s broader reading on the genealogy of economic man as a governable subject, echoing themes in Milgrom’s institutional analysis of trade. — connects to: Friedman defined positive economics as prediction-focused and science-like — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 53

Broader Connections

• Friedman defined positive economics as prediction-focused and science-like #corroborates (0.80) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 53