Respects to Gary Becker

One of the most important thinkers of the 20th century has died. Meager words are like a drop of water in comparison to the immensity of his contributions, which, on an analytical basis, have allowed for a better understanding of how we humans and our most personal organizational structures — like family and business — behave. This proximity was essential to Becker, who was a profound representative of the liberal vision: Society is built by people and their environment. Understanding their behavior is the very basis of economics.

He extended the domain of micro-economic analysis to other fields of human behavior and interaction, including nonmarket behavior. However, he always did this within the framework of a strict analytical process, because without it, anything can be said about anything. For example, in the area of family Becker suggested that the home is like a “small factory” that produces basic goods — food, entertainment, shelter, etc. — using two essential components: time and ordinary market goods — fruit, clothing, equipment, etc. He said that decisions are made based on the relative prices involved — the price of the compared products and use of time in production and consumption, which is directly related to wage. Is this vision of household behavior too “rational”? Undoubtedly, we also take into account other variables — such as emotions — in making decisions, but the framework Becker outlined allows us two things: One is the formalization of thought, which is essential if one wants to draw conclusions and put them to the test. The other is the realization that the variables of price, wages and time are basic in our lives. Just think of concrete examples of how you make decisions in your daily life. For this reason, his methods extended to other social sciences, such as sociology.

Another one of Gary Becker’s major contributions was in the area of human capital — the consequences of investment in the development of skills. He formulated and formalized the micro-economic foundations of the theory, and on this basis, he contributed to the analysis of the distribution of income, wage differences, discrimination, immigration, etc.

Some will say that Becker did harm to social thought because of his tendency to give excessive weight to “economicism.” Becker’s simple response paraphrases George Bernard Shaw, “Economy is the art of making the most of life.” Economics not as science, but as humanity’s daily actions. As with any predominant line of thought, Gary Becker’s is also open for discussion, but not before recognizing his great transcendence.