behavioural economics

Obama’s ‘invisible hand’ talks ‘regulatory moneyball’  and the potential of policy based on data-driven, cost-benefit analysis

How David Cameron’s plan to ‘nudge’ could save billions

Never mind the hypothetical cuts to OAS, Ottawa’s got some actual pension measures before Parliament

Trying to untangle last night’s debate, and get set for tonight’s, my mind kept drifting back to a New Yorker story from last winter, which reviewed findings from new books on behavioural economics. The core idea was that consumers, acting on scant information and irrational biases, will make predictably irrational decisions about how much stuff if worth.