Helping the INVISIBLE (Hand) become . . . VISIBLE

What is Metaeconomics?

Metaeconomics is an empathy-based, science- and humanities-grounded alternative to mainstream Microeconomics. Instead of assuming only ego-based self-interest as in Single Interest Theory (SIT) in Microeconomics, Metaeconomics uses Dual Interest Theory (DIT), which explicitly recognizes empathy-based shared other-interest as an internal motivation within human behavior.

What is Dual Interest Theory (DIT)?

Dual Interest Theory (DIT) holds that human behavior arises through the joint operation of two motivations: ego-based self-interest (relating to profane incentive) & empathy-based shared other-interest (holding the sacred ethic). Economic stability depends on maintaining an appropriate balance within this jointly operative, interdependent, and nonseparable system, rather than privileging one dimension over the other.

How does Dual Interest Theory (DIT) in Metaeconomics relate to Adam Smith?

Adam Smith emphasized that moral sentiments—the ethic—must temper self-interest. Metaeconomics formalizes Smith’s insight using modern behavioral science, treating Smith’s two major works as one operative argument: wealth & sentiment, self & other(shared)-interest, incentive & ethic. As Smith intended, within Metaeconomics the ethic tempers the incentive and is therefore essential to economic efficiency, market viability, and social stability.

Core DIT Notation

In Metaeconomics, the symbol "&" is more notation than writing convention, used deliberately to denote the jointness, interdependence, and nonseparability of paired concepts. Expressions such as ego & empathy, self & other(shared)-interest, wealth & sentiment, incentive & ethic, market & government, and profane & sacred are formal DIT terms, not merely stylistic expressions. In some contexts, the spacing is omitted (for example, self&other-interest, profaneF&sacredS, or simply FS) to further emphasize the conceptual unity. The symbol "&" signifies that the paired concepts operate jointly and have to be understood as jointly operative, interdependent, and nonseparable rather than as independent concepts.

Adam Smith highlighted the Invisible Hand as a key part of The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Adam Smith’s other book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, is fundamentally about what is embedded in the Invisible Hand.
The Sentiments ... in today's words, Empathy --> Sympathy ... would produce the content of the Invisible Hand, referred to in Metaeconomics as the moral community
Metaeconomics proposes open dialogue in community about the substance, the content and character of the nature of the operant background conditions... what becomes the Visible Hand...becoming conscious at least for a time, until it, too, becomes once again a part of the Unconscious in the new Invisible Hand.
Build community, build shared values in a moral community: Such action makes the Invisible Hand of the economy visible, at least for a time.
Encourage evolution of megalogues (after Etzioni, 1988;1993; 1996), which serves to integrate the dialogues ongoing in smaller groups (family, civic, social, political), and build a wider, more widely accepted... across many smaller, more narrowly focused interests... Moral Community
Individual emerges from dialogue(s) in many smaller groups, each having its own set of shared Other-interests, with cross-dialogue made possible by individuals being in several different groups, leading to the megalogue, and the widely shared Other-interest
Metaeconomics points to the real possibility that the megalogues will have the outcome of an overall integrated, balanced Other(shared widely)-interest for the community, state, region, nation, and, overall, for this Spaceship Earth on which we all travel.
Perhaps there never has been, nor will there ever be, a truly Invisible Hand (see Samuels, Johnson and Perry, 2011). Rather, the construct is just a convenient way to disguise and not address the underlying power relationships at work in a real economy, leaving what comes from the status quo.

Related Metaeconomics Concepts

This topic is part of the broader Metaeconomics framework, which uses Dual Interest Theory (DIT) to integrate ego-based self-interest and empathy-based shared other-interest in support of stable, efficient, and humane economic systems—formalizing insights anticipated by Adam Smith. For concise definitions, terminology, and links to related concepts, see the Metaeconomics FAQ hub: https://www.metaeconomics.info/faq-frequently-asked-question

References

Etzioni, Amitai. 1988. The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics. New York: Free Press.

Etzioni, A. 1993. The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities and the Communitarian Agenda. New York: Crown Publishing Group.

Etzioni, A. 1996. The New Golden Rule. New York: Basic Books.