Big decision ahead? Just roll the dice . . .
‘Most of us could do with a little more randomness in our lives’
Why central bankers shouldn’t have skin in the game
‘Yes, incentives matter. But they often matter for all the wrong reasons’
How insurers keep the money pump flowing
‘Obsessing about risks is arbitrary and illogical. But that does not mean we don’t do it’
What happens in a world where mediocrity rules?
‘It can be quite pleasant to relax and be a little bit crappy for a while’
Can trivia help us to be less ignorant of our own ignorance?
‘A broad base of knowledge helps to clue us in to the times when we are stumbling towards a humbling’
Are universities worth it?
‘To enjoy higher wages, smart people must waste time and money going to the trouble of acquiring a degree’
Does hosting the Olympics make us happier?
‘Careful surveys of wellbeing are an important tool in figuring out the wisest way to spend public money’
The meaning of trust in the age of Airbnb
‘The reason eBay and Airbnb work is not because of brilliant online reputation systems but because most people aren’t crooks’
An algorithm for getting through your to-do list
‘We all have days of switching focus from one task to another but never actually doing anything. Can we borrow a solution from computers?’
Fossil fuels have had an aeon’s head start
‘Fossil fuels have a formidable head start as our entire existing energy system revolves around them’
Metropolitan myths that led to Brexit
‘The pressing issue for the UK has not been rising inequality but weak growth’
Brexit and the power of wishful thinking
‘We are quite capable of clinging on to our beliefs by picking whatever facts support them’
Did economists fail us over Brexit?
‘Most economists think the British public shot itself in the foot, and did so against expert advice’
We’re all winners or losers now
‘When we stop admiring how much the pie has grown, we start fighting each other for a larger slice’
How do you make the Olympics pay? Fudge the figures
‘Hosting the games is not unlike building a church for one single, glorious wedding celebration’
How to fuel a rewarding culture
‘Money matters, but sometimes we find financial incentives to be insulting or grubby’
The dubious power of power poses
‘Many notable results in psychology are now being questioned because later research has reached different conclusions’
Worth the wait?
‘If you miss your plane or your train, it hardly matters that the queue was a nice place to chill’
How the sense of an ending shapes memory
‘Composers, novelists and film directors try to end on a high. Restaurants keen to manipulate their online reviews have found a similar trick’
The refugee crisis — match us if you can
‘However many refugees we decide to resettle, there’s no excuse for doing the process wastefully’
A billion prices can’t be wrong
‘A “big data” approach to inflation is helping us understand the fundamental question of why recessions happen’
The odds are you won’t know when to quit
‘The truth is that there are no foolproof methods for knowing when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em’
Could an income for all provide the ultimate safety net?
‘Though the idea of a basic income is far from mainstream political practice, it has had astonishingly broad support’
Tata Steel, Port Talbot and how to manage industrial decline
‘The wounds of a large industrial closure run deep. The entire economic ecosystem of an area can collapse’
Why one size doesn’t fit all
‘The most notorious example of this “compromise effect” is our tendency to plump for the second-cheapest bottle on the wine list’
