A GENERAL HYPOTHESIS OF AGGREGATED EXPECTATIONS

The aggregated expectations hypothesis, described here in full for the first time, offers a new way of examining likely future outcomes base d upon the most important contributor-expectations-to the individual d ecisions which aggregate to create these final macro-outcomes. It also offers more powerful actors, especially governments, a new tool for i nfluencing some of those future outcomes. The core concept is that the future outcome of an issue, economic or political, will be largely de termined by the expectations of those in the population affected whose aggregated individual decisions will shape that outcome. (C) 1997 Els evier Science Inc.