In this talk, I walk through the evolution of exchange, from trades in small kin-based tribes to the global trade in the modern economy. The focus is on the co-evolution of human biology and institutions that have resulted in spectacular increases in human welfare over the past century for much,...

The traditional view in economics is that individuals respond to incentives, but absent strong incentives to the contrary selfishness prevails. Moreover, this "greed is good" approach is deemed "rational" behavior. Nevertheless, in daily interactions and in numerous laboratory studies, a high...