Monthly Archives: January 2012

Why are the French miserable?

Posted on January 29, 2012 by

According to a recent slew of books, French children don’t throw food. And French women don’t get fat. I have noticed that they often have nice scarves. So chic. But does that make them happy? No. According to happiness surveys, … Continue reading →

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Executive pay: we need to think beyond £s

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

The main political parties have achieved near-consensus that something needs to be done about executive pay. There is an argument that Government has no role in this area, and that private firms, with all their incentives to seek greater profits are … Continue reading →

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Bigoted? No, just overconfident and bad at statistics

Posted on January 15, 2012 by

There are different shades of discrimination. There is active dislike of a particular group of people, and then there is the tendency to make generalisations about individuals based on the (perceived) characteristics of the group you associate them with e.g. of … Continue reading →

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An economist’s guide to keeping your New Year resolutions

Posted on January 8, 2012 by

Got some New Year resolutions? Wondering how you’re going to keep them? Think you could benefit from some behavioural economics and psychology tips (who doesn’t?!). 1) Make your resolution public. If you care about what people think of you, you … Continue reading →

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