psychology

Once politicians set policy and commit to it by signing it into existence, they would rather risk losing office than change course.

Reasoning was not designed to pursue the truth. Reasoning was designed by evolution to help us win arguments. That's why they call it The Argumentative Theory of Reasoning. So, as they put it, "The evidence reviewed here shows not…

George Soros makes the case for economics as a social science using his theory of reflexivity. Here are some additional thoughts to help understand why markets fail.

Partisans have a well-developed political world view. Facts don't change that view. How does one deal with that? If you're wrong, you will be confronted with a decision on how to react. The insidious thing about this is that when we are…

How do we make moral and ethical decisions? It would be nice if our choices were grounded in nothing but the facts, in the details of the issue at hand. Alas, that’s not the way it works. Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist at the University…

Over the last three decades the US financial sector has grown six times faster than nominal GDP. This column argues that there comes a point when the financial sector has a negative effect on growth – that is, when credit to the private…

When unemployment is high, immigrants are seen as a burden and the mood shifts toward the anti-immigration rhetoric we are hearing from Mr. Cameron. Economic nationalism is a force to be reckoned with. This anti-foreigner sentiment will…

We saw that Joseph Stiglitz proposes a new reserve currency to alleviate pressure on trade imbalances. Michael Pettis is now also proposing a similar move away from the U.S. dollar. In an FT Op-Ed, Michael wrote that every generation we…

I read a very good piece on the psychology of economic nationalism by SocGen 's Dylan Grice earlier today. Because of some relevant thoughts from a reader regarding austerity, I wanted to pass on my thoughts on what he wrote in the context…

By Claus Vistesen Events in Japan and Libya do not seem to have derailed the ongoing positive sentiment in the market. But they just might have alerted various Masters of the Universe that black holes (or was that swans?) are both…