Economic Psychology

America is at war with itself. By all accounts we are the most divided we have been since the civil war. Politicians are supposed to compromise. Yet we are electing political activists who are creating a new religion of national politics, who sacralize their political beliefs. When we sacralize our political beliefs any compromise becomes a sin. It's a special type of stupid because our fragile experiment in liberal democracy is hanging in the balance. Political Ideology is a social science detective story. We will examine the origins of political ideology that make it difficult for; Us to ...

We pile on “to-dos” but don’t consider “stop-doings”. We create incentives for good behavior, but don’t get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don’t prune the outdated ones. Every day, across challenges big and small, we neglect a basic way to make things better: We don’t subtract. Leidy Klotz’s pioneering research shows why.

Not only can we not currently explain the origin of the universe, it is questionable we will ever be able to explain it. The notion that there are universes within particles, or that particles are conscious, is ascientific, as is the hypothesis that our universe is a computer simulation. On the other hand, the idea that the universe itself is conscious is difficult to rule out entirely.

When did 'good enough' become the same as 'perfect'? Why does society increasingly promote ideals that are completely unrealistic? And what does it mean for all of us that perfectionism is on the rise? In The Perfection Trap, you'll discover what's really driving the rise in perfectionism, its impact on how we learn, work, parent and relate to ourselves and each other. From the personal to the impact on the economy, grounded in over a decade of research and filled with real stories, this timely book reveals how our quest for perfection impacts our health and mental well-being.

Whether we realize it or not, we all take risks large and small every day. Even the most cautious among us cannot opt out - the question is always which risks to take, not whether to take them at all. What most of us don't know is how to measure those risks and maximize the chances of getting what we want out of life. In An Economist Walks into a Brothel, Schrager equips listeners with five principles for dealing with risk, principles used by some of the world's most interesting risk takers.

Life expectancy in the United States has recently fallen for three years in a row - a reversal not seen since 1918 or in any other wealthy nation in modern times. In the past two decades, deaths of despair from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism have risen dramatically, and now claim hundreds of thousands of American lives each year - and they're still rising. Case and Deaton, known for first sounding the alarm about deaths of despair, explain the overwhelming surge in these deaths and shed light on the social and economic forces that are making life harder for the working class.

Loneliness has become the defining condition of the 21st century. It is damaging our health, our wealth, and our happiness and even threatening our democracy. Never has it been more pervasive or more widespread, but never has there been more that we can do about it.

As children, we develop stories about how the world works, most of which get improved upon and amended over time. But some do not, even as we mature in other ways. Opinionated, self-centered, and fear-driven, these “child stories” are the source of the behavioral and emotional patterns that hold us back. When we learn to identify and rewrite these stories, limitless growth becomes possible.

Weaving together cutting-edge social science with riveting stories that take us from the front lines of the Volkswagen scandal to backstage at the Oscars, and from deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico to the top of Mount Everest, Chris Clearfield and András Tilcsik explain how the increasing complexity of our systems creates conditions ripe for failure and why our brains and teams can't keep up. They highlight the paradox of progress: Though modern systems have given us new capabilities, they've become vulnerable to surprising meltdowns - and even to corruption and misconduct.

We are in the midst of one of the greatest status revolutions ever, and it's a brave new world indeed. Who better to guide us through it than Michael Lewis, whose subversive, trenchant humor is the perfect match to his subject matter. Here is an audiobook as fresh as tomorrow's headlines, and as entertaining as its best selling predecessors.

Every day, we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. The reason, the authors explain, is that, being human, we are all susceptible to various biases that can lead us to blunder. Our mistakes can make us poor and unhealthy. We often make bad decisions about education, personal finance, health care, family, and the environment.

Economic life is often regarded as a necessary evil to support one's family or a frustrating race to "get ahead". But that is a shame because seeing the economic aspect of life as a spiritual path has great potential to help us cheer up and experience richness, no matter what our financial situation. The Four Noble Truths is a classic teaching that provides the foundation of a wealthy outlook. With humor, examples, and simple instructions, this book illuminates the way to discover richness, from the inside out.

Time and time again, great thinkers like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have credited their success to mental models: simple representations of how the world works that can be applied in a wide array of contexts. Mastering a small number of these concepts enables you to rapidly grasp new information, identify patterns others don’t, and better anticipate outcomes. The Great Mental Models introduces the most powerful models that anyone can use right away to improve decision making and productivity. In this volume, Shane Parrish introduces the universal concepts that underpin better thinking

Robert Prechter proposes a new science called socionomics. It's the study of how humans interact and how that interaction determines the course of the economy, culture, and history.

Most of us want to succeed. And most of us want to do the right thing. But we often forget that the way tosucceed is by doing the right thing, as Barry Schwartz and Kenneth Sharpe remind us in Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing. When the institutions that shape our society need to change, the people in them typically either make more rules or offer smarter incentives.

Everyone knows how hard it can be to maintain a healthy diet. But what if some of the decisions we make about what to eat are beyond our control? Is it possible that food is addictive, like drugs or alcohol? And to what extent does the food industry know, or care, about these vulnerabilities? In Hooked, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Michael Moss sets out to answer these questions - and to find the true peril in our food.

At the age of 26, most of us are just embarking on life. But by that age, Frank Ramsey, one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century, had come up with major new ideas in mathematics, philosophy and economics. And then (in 1930) he died. This first account of Ramsey’s life and ideas shows an engaging, down-to-earth, flawed genius as he startled and amazed 1920s Cambridge, at a time when there was no shortage of geniuses in the university. His early tragic death shocked and dismayed friends like Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Maynard Keynes and Bertrand Russell, but it is only in the last...

Por que continuamos com dor de cabeça depois de tomar um remédio barato, mas a dor vai embora com uma medicação cara? Por que ostentamos em refeições luxuosas, mas queremos economizar vinte centavos em uma lata de ervilha? Sempre acreditamos que nossas escolhas são inteligentes e racionais, mas Dan Ariely joga por terra essas crenças com revelações surpreendentes que mudam a forma como entendemos o comportamento humano.

In 2010, pioneering sociologist Catherine Hakim shocked the world with a provocative new theory: In addition to the three recognized personal assets (economic, cultural, and social capital), each individual has a fourth asset - erotic capital - that he or she can, and should, use to advance within society. In this bold and controversial book, Hakim explores the applications and significance of erotic capital, challenging the disapproval meted out to women and men who use sex appeal to get ahead in life.

The Artist's Way has helped more than a million people access their creativity and realize their dreams. Now, authors Mark Bryan, Julia Cameron, and Catherine Allen extend and expand the original Artist's Way tools in an all-new program specifically designed to encompass the world of the workplace.The authors asked hundreds of businesspeople to tell them the things that concerned them, receiving such heartfelt questions as: How do I stay creative in a hostile and competitive environment? Remain creative despite criticism? Clarify and apply my strengths to my work? Overcome the depression I feel at my job? Handle an impossible workload?This audiobook answers these question and many more. The Artist's Way at Work will help you thrive at the job you now have, move into the career you truly want, or launch the business of your dreams. It combines the strength of three fields: the art world, the entrepreneurial world, and the corporate world. The Artist's Way at Work will give you a more satisfying, fully creative life in which you will feel a sense of wholeness, not fragmentation, a sense of cooperation, not competition. This audiobook will help you become more authentic, more productive, and better able to see and speak your truth in all facets of your life.