Economics of the brain 💵

Danielle Gruber
12 min readFeb 8, 2021
Image by author.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, I’m a big fan of intuitive models, especially those that draw parallels between different fields. What better way to understand complex phenomena than some good ol’ analogies? Ideology aside, I hope this article provides you with some insights into the brain through the lens of economics. 😊

Table of contents

· Table of contents
· Bridging micro and macro
· Land, labor, capital
∘ Land
· Labor
∘ Capital
· Allocating scarce resources
∘ Attention
∘ Oxygen and glucose
· Inflation and bankruptcy
· Inflation
· Bankruptcy
· Takeaways
· About the author
· Sources and further reading

Bridging micro and macro

Economics is largely about decision-making. Whether it’s individuals, corporations, governments, or regions in your brain, economics is about how these entities assign value to different actions and make choices accordingly.

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Danielle Gruber

👋 I am a junior at Yale University majoring in electrical engineering. I’m interested in neuroscience, computer science, math, and everything in between!