A Crusoe Economy

When commentators today talk about “Crusoe Economics”, in fact, what they are referring to is the seldom-used analytical framework sometimes employed by economists to reduce complex market concepts down to basic first principles. As originally envisioned, the framework examines a hypothetical Robinson Crusoe stranded on a desert island with only a single friend, Friday, as his companion. The analysis then distills the complexities of a modern economy down to basic elementary...