Well, if you’re going to assume that any deal which seems unfair to a mere outsider will have ‘something else at play’ rendering the deal actually fair, then there’s nothing I can say about that. Such assertions are like that of the Austrians—no mere evidence can falsify it. (After all, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Er, I mean, differing preferences.)
Well, if you’re going to assume that any deal which seems unfair to a mere outsider will have ‘something else at play’ rendering the deal actually fair, then there’s nothing I can say about that. Such assertions are like that of the Austrians—no mere evidence can falsify it. (After all, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Er, I mean, differing preferences.)
Well the Austrians are right in that the traditional assumptions of rationality (and therefore fairness) don’t make much sense.
Although I think the behavioral economists are doing a decent job of backing up these type of assertions: the point that “fairness” is subjective.
Can someone engage in a trade they don’t believe is fair? Yes of course.
But if both parties say a trade is fair, who is an outside observer (with all the market data in the world) to tell them otherwise?
“Fairness is not agreement, fairness is symmetry.”