Experimental Economics, Game Theory and Das Adam Smith Problem

Experimental economics challenges the mainstream by arguing that only social rational agents will produce a socially desirable outcome in competitive interactions. However, the solution of Das Adam Smith Problem provided neo-classical economics with its own cover: self-interested people can be socially minded and only among ethical self-interested agents will competitive interaction succeed. I will challenge both assertions in this paper. I will argue that what experimental economists would call as social may not be such and that socially minded individuals are not likely to be the self-interested agent depicted by neo-classical economics.