Akerlof and Shiller: Phishing as a Market Trap
In the traditional sense, phishing is associated with cybercrime. However, Nobel laureates George Akerlof and Robert Shiller give it a broader meaning: it is any situation in which an economic agent is induced to act in the interest of a manipulator. In a system based on competition and profit, phishing becomes a structural logic rather than an anomaly. This article analyzes how modern capitalism monetizes our cognitive and emotional weaknesses, transforming us into "phools" in our own economic lives.
Phishing Undermines Normative Pareto Optimality
Classical economics assumes that the free market leads to Pareto optimality—a state in which one player's situation cannot be improved without worsening another's. Phishing theory debunks this myth: market equilibrium is optimal not relative to our real needs, but to the "wants of the monkey on our shoulder." Advertising, from Lasker’s historical methods to modern dark patterns, systematically exploits cognitive biases. Through microtargeting and artificial status hierarchies, companies shape our preferences to squeeze profit from human vulnerability, making the concept of the "sovereign consumer" a fiction.
Political Phishing Corrodes Liberal Democracy
In the political sphere, phishing manifests as the systemic exploitation of fears and symbols instead of substantive debate. Under competitive conditions, effectiveness (Q) becomes a stable strategy, displacing truth (P) and the public interest (R). Voters, as "information phools," are unable to see through complex legislation serving interest groups. Generative AI amplifies this phenomenon, enabling deepfakes and the hyper-personalization of manipulation. At the same time, this same technology can serve as an algorithmic shield, helping citizens detect fraud and analyze hidden clauses in legislation.
The USA, Europe, and the Arab World: Three Models of Regulation
The fight against phishing takes different forms depending on the region. The USA relies on market freedom, where the burden of proof for manipulation lies with regulators (FTC). Europe, through the GDPR, protects the individual's informational autonomy. In Arab countries, regulations protect communal and religious values, restricting, for example, alcohol advertising. However, the vice and gambling industries remain laboratories for addictive mechanisms, where psychological phishing preys on biological weaknesses. Although institutional "heroes" (such as consumer organizations) resist, the law often remains powerless against legal but unethical persuasion techniques.
Chrematistics vs. Economics: A Dispute Over the Foundations of Ethics
Elżbieta Mączyńska and Michał Kalecki point out that when profit becomes detached from value, economics turns into chrematistics—the art of accumulating wealth at any cost. A logical meta-puzzle suggests that in the pursuit of profit and free competition, systemic phishing is inevitable unless we redefine the system's foundations. In a world of algorithmic seduction, will we be able to regain our autonomy? The phishing equilibrium is not just a technical problem, but a fundamental question about the future of human freedom in the era of digital capitalism.
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