What may best distinguish our approach from that of others is its emphasis on accomplishment in the case of children and youth, and eminence in the case of adults. For us, accomplishment rather than potential is the best indication of giftedness. Giftedness is only one of several factors that may affect how much a person attains over the course of childhood, youth, or a lifetime. For example, without large amounts of intensive practice, parental support, and expert instruction, giftedness rarely comes to full fruition.

Though fundamentally psychological and educational, our approach is derivative of the “new economics” that broadly applies well-established economic principles to explain human behavior outside its traditional monetary purview, including learning, human and social capital, marriage, divorce, crime, addictions, suicide, and other phenomena (Becker, 1976). This economic approach employs only a few central ideas to parsimoniously explain and predict a wide variety of human behavior.

Provocative and productive, new applications of economics echo the original Greek meaning of the term – the management of household affairs. Though founded in agreed-on theory, the economic principles accord well with common sense and have many practical applications. For example, dealing with scarcity – not just of money, but of time, energy, and attention – is a classic problem not only of economics but of human life. Economists also influence policy makers because they explicitly quantify the benefits, costs, and risks that should weigh heavily in rational decision making.

Can economic ideas help us think more clearly about making giftedness fruitful or, in the language of economics, “productive”? The “opportunity costs” of notable accomplishment or eminence in violin playing preclude top ballet performance and world-class chess.