Starting around 1948 with foundations of economic analysis and Paul Samuelson, economists longed to embed their work in physics like mathematical structures. Gary Becker got a Nobel Prize for it. His paper, The Theory of Social Interactions, his book, A Treatise on the Family were all attempts actually to take Smith and make them more rigorous.
When the 20-year-old overachiever Johnathan Bi's first startup crashed and burned, he headed to a Zen retreat in the Catskills to "debug himself." He discovered René Girard and his mimetic theory--the idea that imitation is a key and often unconscious driver of human behavior. Listen as entrepreneur and philosopher Bi shares with EconTalk host Russ Roberts what he learned from Girard and Girard's insights into how we meet our primal need for money, fame, and power. The conversation includes the contrasts between economics and Girard's perspective.