Economics and evolutionary mismatch: humans in novel settings do not maximize

Standard economic theory does not consider the deep evolutionary history of humans. As such, economics ignores the notion that human nature can be ‘out of sync’ with certain aspects of modern life. In contrast, the theory of ‘evolutionary mismatch’ argues that novel products and situations might present particular difficulties. The assumptions of economics are discussed and examined from an evolutionary perspective including both equilibrium and mismatch. The conclusion is that economics would be changed by evolutionary thinking in general, and evolutionary mismatch in particular.