A while back, I wrote a post called “what economists should learn from sociology.” Consider this a follow up post – what sociologists can learn from economists. Let’s start with substantive topics:
- Micro 101: The basic tools of microeconomics are very useful. Supply and demand, comparative advantage, marginal analysis, opportunity costs, expected utility, etc. Sure, in the real world, people aren’t perfect calculators, but they aren’t morons either. If a situation is fairly well defined, people will compare options, assess costs and benefits, and so forth.
- Game theory: Interactionism is very popular in sociology, yet interactionist theories are often ad hoc when you get down to it. Game theory is a nice way to model interactions, even if it has limitations. The other nice thing about game theory is that the basics are fairly easy to learn compared to other topics.
- A focus on outcomes: Sometimes, I feel like sociologists are a…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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