Greed Vs Incentive Essay

Greed & Incentive; Their Definitions and

Major Roles in our Economy

Randy West

ASUMH

Abstract

Greed and incentive are two terms whose meanings have some similarities and differences based on various contexts in an economic perspective. Greed implies an affinity for self-gain and is done by people who only act based on what they stand to gain from a particular action. Incentive too operates on the same concept where people act based on what they stand to gain, only that in incentive, there is usually an intentional move by either government or another party inducing the need for people to act and benefit. Greed and incentive can be analyzed based on various economic situations and theories that seek to explain how a typical economy operates. This dwells mostly on issues such as investment,

Greed implies selfishness especially concerning resources in an economy where individuals misuse and accumulate resources for their benefit rather than having the interests of other people and the economy at heart. However, this can also be looked at from a positive perspective where it would mean people acting in their best interests without necessarily impacting negatively on the welfare of the rest of the public or the economy. Incentive, on the other hand, is an enticement by the government, an authority, or an individual to induce growth or investment in the economy by providing opportunities or lee ways for people to exploit for their personal benefit, which will also enhance economic growth. Governments use incentives on things like tax to increase investments or tax compliance (Frijters, 2013). This paper focuses on greed and incentive as major factors in how economic change is induced and how individual behavior in the economy can have positive effects on the rest of the economy from a practical