Economics is (now) about emotion and psychology.

Can a controlled experiment explain why people like Kewpie dolls in one year, Beanie Babies in another, and American Girl dolls this year? Yet social scientists are asked to answer analogous questions. We economists and perhaps psychologists shouldn't overreact to the derision. That is, we shouldn't try to overlay a false sense of precision on our admittedly squooshy work.

Economics is (now) about emotion and psychology.

Money management has been a profession involving a lot of fakery - people saying they can beat the market, and they really can't.

Marketers know that if people you respect - perhaps laughably including entertainers and athletes - say they like a product, you're more likely to buy.

Consider our difficulties avoiding junk food and overspending. Such addictions were carefully planned-for by professional marketing teams.

I am worried that the collapse of home prices might turn out to be the most severe since the Great Depression.