Monthly Archives: May 2019

Political tradeoffs

Traditional political parties depend on compromise. That is bad news for them in uncompromising times Imagine an election in which a party that did not even exist less than two months before gains one-third of the vote, pushing not only … Continue reading

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The (behavioural) thing with wine

(credit: Felice Candillo CC BY) On the deep and interesting relationship between wine and behavioural sciences Last week, some people in a Manchester restaurant ordered a £260 (€290, $340) bottle of Pauillac, but nobody noticed that they were brought a … Continue reading

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It ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it

(featured image credit: Ron Cogswell CC BY) Can we communicate and not manipulate? I first encountered behavioural science many decades ago – long before I discovered Kahneman, Thaler, Ariely and co. Moreover, it was not even in an academic paper, … Continue reading

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(Spending) money makes us happy

(featured image credit: Boris Kasimov CC BY) Maybe our preoccupation with earning money is a bit misguided – and for more than one reason Imagine receiving a bonus of, say, £2,400. Not an insignificant amount – it is close to … Continue reading

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More indifference

Why strong preferences and opinions are not (always) good for us My young teenage daughter used to ask me whether I ‘hated’ the male lead singer of the band The Beautiful South every time one of their ditties was played … Continue reading

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