Our roots run deep, our branches are plentiful

Abstract

In this paper I discuss 15 writers, whose writings included topics or concepts which are now part of (new) behavioral economics (NBE). These writers may not have taken up one page or what became part of (N)BE, or it took up several pages. They often did not use the terms used today by NBE. But, the substance is similar, even identical. The writers wrote between the mid-18^th century (Adam Smith, to the 20^th century (Irving Fisher, and Frank Knight, to mention only two).