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

Physicists have a bias to aspire to be "seers" like Einstein rather than "craftspeople" who do simple and practical research. I have seen that in economics departments. The same must be true to some extent in other departments.

Some of the best theorizing comes after collecting data because then you become aware of another reality.

As I write in 2012 we certainly do not believe that it is over yet, and the worst may be yet to come. Efforts by governments to solve the underlying problems responsible for the crisis have still not gotten very far, and the 'stress tests' that governments have used to encourage optimism about our financial institutions were of questionable thoroughness.

The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.

Economics is (now) about emotion and psychology.

Somehow, talking to young students brings you back to reality - it should, anyway.