Introduction:
All history of our progress is the history of our triumphs over uncertainties! In contrast to Adam Smith, Carl Menger, holds a position, correctly, that our progress in welfare is the consequent of our attempts to mitigate Economic uncertainties, and division of labour is but a by-product. It is this proposition of Menger, presented in Principles of Economics Chapter 01, Section 5, that I intend to elaborate and further refine and extend his view.
It is my aim to present a thoroughly rigorous argument in defence of his position. For my purpose, I have opted a strategy of a thought experiment where you are a tribal leader of a primitive tribe, and I, your advisor, ask you a series of questions regarding our current conditions, and expectations etc. Together we will discover how progress of our tribe over centuries can be secured. And at the end, I will give you two questions to think about. Carl Menger was one of the four Economists, alongside Walras, Edgeworth, and Jevons, whose writings shaped modern Economics.
Let us go through our thought experiment. Suppose you are a tribal head of a primitive tribe. Suppose further that at the moment everyone does everything; collects food, makes animal skin clothes, and maintains the forms of shelter (e.g. cave) etc etc. However, food, being the most important requirement for survival, must be procured in large enough amounts, and always be available as needed.
In this primitive setting, with almost zero technology, how confident are you about future food provisions of your tribe, say for an entire season, say perhaps of winter? .......
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