Author Archives: fiveminuteeconomist
Don’t tell me ’cause it hurts
It is often taken for granted that more information – or at least more well-designed, easily understandable information – will always be welcome. So in the UK, traffic light diagrams representing nasty sugars and fats is increasingly plastered across food products. But … Continue reading
Paying for psychic pigs
It hath been decreed that the biggest football tournaments must be accompanied by a psychic animal – be it octopus, fish or pig. Someone really ought to start to blog about football and behavioural economics, because this popular sport of … Continue reading
Policy for the poor
“Poor Economics”, by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, is a book about the economics of poverty. The tagline, at least on the paperback version, is the enticing “Barefoot Hedge-fund Managers, DIY Doctors and the Surprising Truth about Life on Less Than $1 a … Continue reading
Hey, big risk taker
Correlations are fun, aren’t they? What would the newspapers be without them? With an empty Health and Science section, that’s what. According to a paper by Olaf Hubler at the Institute of Empirical Economic Research, there is a correlation between … Continue reading
I can see through you (or can I?)
Career coaches (actually, no, everyone) says that you need to act confident to get to what you want. Think positively. Tell yourself you’re great. Believe in yourself. Being confident signals to others that you are high ability. But what about … Continue reading
Budget 2012: It’s the way you communicate it
This week’s Budget announced by the UK Government included proposals for an annual personal tax statement. Each year, taxpayers will receive details of the tax they have paid and how their tax contributes to public spending. It’s all under the … Continue reading
How the Joneses change with age, or how I use my quantum physics book to show off
I was recently reading an article about Higgs Boson, and irritated by the fact that I wasn’t sure I entirely understood what was going on, decided that I needed to purchase a book about quantum physics. I’ve been reading it … Continue reading
Clock and awe
The last time I felt a sense of real awe was in Iceland, hearing the rumble of the Gullfoss waterfall, and then catching my first glimpse of it. It’s a waterfall that in summertime throws an average of 140 cubic metres per … Continue reading
Don’t believe this blog – economists lie!
An old economics “joke” goes along the lines of an interviewer asking a mathematician what two plus two equals. The mathematician replies “four”. The interviewer asks an economist the same question. The economist gets up, locks the door, sits down … Continue reading
Five Minute Economist's Blog 
What’s the difference between a banker and a GP?
This week the Financial Services Authority issued a “wake-up call” to the financial services market to re-think the way staff are rewarded. Consumer trust in financial services providers is in tatters. The market has been hit by a spate of … Continue reading →