Yet in health, we see action as inherently dangerous; while in economics, we see inaction as inherently dangerous. Why?
That is a very good point, I must appreciate that you noticed it. I would say that one of the reasons that happens is because people resist change. In health, any action would mean there could be something wrong that can happen. Thus, it is made a mandate that every possible wrong be checked before such an action takes place. Hence, the inherent danger in action.
Where as in case of economics, actions are usually taken to stop a change from happening (Stimulus package, bailing out car companies, president goes shopping, etc.). Thus, inaction would be accepting change which people always oppose. Hence, the inherent danger in inaction.
I suspect that a lot of it has to do with how much control people imagine that they have in economics vs. health.
Economics is just a lot of people making choices. This leads many to imagine that, to fix any economic problem, we just need to get everyone to make the right choices. Indeed, the “get everyone to” part is often elided, and so we imagine that “we just need to make the right choices”. Thus, doing the right thing is naturally imagined as something within our power. Any economic problem can be solved; it’s just a matter of will. There is therefore a bias towards action.
On the other hand, most people accept that much of their health is beyond anyone’s control. They accept, for example, that no one can keep them from dying. Since they acknowledge that some bad health states cannot be solved, they fear putting themselves into such a state. On the other hand, the body usually appears to work just fine without any intervention (e.g., your heart beats without anyone consciously making it do so). There is therefore a bias against action.
That is a very good point, I must appreciate that you noticed it. I would say that one of the reasons that happens is because people resist change. In health, any action would mean there could be something wrong that can happen. Thus, it is made a mandate that every possible wrong be checked before such an action takes place. Hence, the inherent danger in action.
Where as in case of economics, actions are usually taken to stop a change from happening (Stimulus package, bailing out car companies, president goes shopping, etc.). Thus, inaction would be accepting change which people always oppose. Hence, the inherent danger in inaction.
I suspect that a lot of it has to do with how much control people imagine that they have in economics vs. health.
Economics is just a lot of people making choices. This leads many to imagine that, to fix any economic problem, we just need to get everyone to make the right choices. Indeed, the “get everyone to” part is often elided, and so we imagine that “we just need to make the right choices”. Thus, doing the right thing is naturally imagined as something within our power. Any economic problem can be solved; it’s just a matter of will. There is therefore a bias towards action.
On the other hand, most people accept that much of their health is beyond anyone’s control. They accept, for example, that no one can keep them from dying. Since they acknowledge that some bad health states cannot be solved, they fear putting themselves into such a state. On the other hand, the body usually appears to work just fine without any intervention (e.g., your heart beats without anyone consciously making it do so). There is therefore a bias against action.