Institutional evolution lacks the selection mechanisms of markets and biology: there is mutation (variety of forms) but no mergers/acquisitions or natural selection pruning inferior institutions, so better institutions displace worse ones only in the very long run — Munger prefers Hume's view of accepted conventions over Hayek's efficiency-tending evolution.
causalpending
Speaker
Michael MungerEvidence Quote
“on that score I prefer Hume to Hayek there's a bunch of different ways of arranging societies and once you have conventions we accept them... but there aren't the same pressures that mean that better institutions are going to take over from worst institutions except in the very long run”
Created: 6/17/2026, 10:29:24 AM
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