Monthly Archives: July 2016

Fooled by a Sign

Posted on July 28, 2016 by koenfucius

(Credit: geralt/Pixabay) Percentages can be deceptive and misleading Do you remember learning about fractions at school? You had only just kind of mastered working with whole numbers, when they got broken up, and the intuitive rules simply didn’t work anymore. … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavioural economics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Did emotions kill economic man?

Posted on July 21, 2016 by koenfucius

‘Emotional’ is not the opposite of ‘rational’ It may not strictly be considered the same as ‘irrational’, but the term ‘emotional’ is often regarded as diametrically opposed to ‘rational’. Perhaps dividing people in ‘emotional’ and ‘rational’ types would be all … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavioural economics, Economics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Does Altruism exist?

Posted on July 15, 2016 by koenfucius

(Not in the way that is generally assumed) Mainstream economics tends to get a bad press. One reason is that many people see the dismal science using a deeply flawed model of human behaviour, the so-called homo economicus (a wholly … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavioural economics | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The problem with principles

Posted on July 8, 2016 by koenfucius

Making decisions can be tough – and if principles are involved, prepare for the impossible. For anyone with an interest in behaviour and decision making, Brexit is the gift that keeps on giving study material. After a wild couple of weeks since … Continue reading →

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The Myth of the Irrational Voter

Posted on July 3, 2016 by koenfucius

In 2007 Bryan Caplan, a professor of economics at George Mason University, published a fine book entitled ‘The Myth of the Rational Voter’. In it, he robustly questions the ability of the average voting citizen to make reasoned choices, especially … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavioural economics, politics | 1 Comment