Utility Maximization

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it maximized his utility.

Source: Charles Wheelan. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science. WW Norton & Company, 2010. [B047]

All the mathematical equations by which economists bedazzle their clients, or the public, are founded on one simple assumption: that everyone, left to his own devices, will choose the course of action that provides the most of what he wants for the least expenditure of resources and effort. It is the simplicity of the formula that makes the equations possible: if one were to admit that humans have complicated motivations, there would be too many factors to take into account, it would be impossible to properly weight them, and predictions could not be made. [...] The underlying assumption [of “minimax” (minimize cost, maximize benefit)] is that if humans are offered the option to be parasites, of course they’ll take it.

Source: David Graeber. Bullshit Jobs: A Theory. Simon and Schuster, 2018. [B209]