individuals and organizations involved in business transactions to make logical decisions that yield net positive outcomes for all stakeholders, including ownership, employees, customers, and the community at large. Because such outcomes are the result of rational choices, it is, therefore, possible to predict with some accuracy the economic behavior of those stakeholders. In theory, this ability to forecast behavior allows decision-makers to implement strategies that will maximize potential gains and minimize losses. Colloquially, the term 'economic rationalization' is often used as an umbrella phrase referring to any business-related decision intended to improve productivity, increase profits, and/or reduce costs arrived at through an insightful analysis of stakeholder behavior. In the classical conceptualization of free-market economic theory, the underlying assumption is that production and consumption are self-regulating in that producers and consumers ultimately behave in ways that produce the greatest benefit for society, the metaphorical invisible hand conceptualized by Scottish economist Adam Smith in the 18th century. Smith claimed that economies worked best when left unregulated, a laissez-faire approach to conducting business that was predicated upon the belief that, "businesspeople naturally invest their capitals where they believe they can generate the most value. Indeed, they are likely to be much better judges of this, understanding more about the local situation, than some distant regulator". This assumption that both the markets themselves as well as the people who participate in them will act in a logical manner would be a foundational concept in economic theory until the early 21st century. When the global economic crisis crippled world markets in 2008, it became apparent that businesses had conducted themselves with anything but logic. Citing the failure of financial organizations and lending institutions to govern their business behavior in a prudent and sustainable manner, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan conceded that economists had "made a mistake in presuming that the self-interest of organizations, specifically banks and others, was such that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders". What the subprime mortgage fiasco of the new millennium revealed was that markets are vulnerable to the cognitive biases of human thought, giving rise to a new conceptualization of economic rationalization recognized as behavioral economics. By critically challenging long-held assumptions about human nature and how it impacts business decisions, corporate interests can take a more rational approach to conducting business in a much more pragmatic manner. Etymology The concept of rationality in