Andrew Lo: Addiction to Monetary Gain

Posted by admin on Friday, May 22, 2015

Professor of Finance at Massachsetts Institute of Technology Andrew Lo Money Quotation saying Neuroscientists have shown that monetary gain stimulates our brains in the same way as cocaine, in both instances, dopamine is released in the pleasure centers of the brain. Andrew Lo said:
 

 

“In the case of cocaine, we call this addiction. In the case of monetary gain, we call it capitalism” — Andrew Lo

 

 

Andrew Lo is drawing a comparison between how the pursuit of monetary gain stimulates the brain’s reward system in a similar way to addictive drugs like cocaine.

When we earn or acquire money, the pleasure centers of our brain are activated and dopamine is released, just as it is when taking cocaine.

However, while cocaine addiction is seen as harmful, our economic system encourages and even depends on people having this same driven behavior towards constantly seeking greater financial returns and wealth accumulation.

So Lo is suggesting that the drive for ever-increasing monetary gain could be viewed as a form of socially sanctioned addiction or dependency within the context of capitalism.