Thinking, Fast and Slow

23 May 2012Book Reviewsbehavioural economics, Daniel Kahneman, Gerd Gigerenzer, Nassim Taleb, Thinking Fast And Slow, two-system thinkingNick Dunbar

Daniel Kahneman Penguin/Allen Lane 2011 I first met Daniel Kahneman in May 2001 when I was researching my still-unpublished book about probability. I had expected to visit him at his office in Princeton's economics department, but for some reason I can no longer remember, Kahneman said the interview should take place at his suburban house.…

From the UK to Italy, an interest rate derivatives headache

19 March 2012Economics, Insurancebanking, behavioural economics, derivatives, interest rate risk, Italy, Morgan StanleyNick Dunbar

My story (with Elisa Martinuzzi) about Italy admitting it paid Morgan Stanley billions to unwind derivatives, and the UK newspaper coverage reporting on the alleged mis-selling of derivatives by banks like Barclays to small British companies, have something in common. Small British companies and Italy share an environment where both of them are finding it…

A free lunch at everyone’s expense

14 August 2011Articlesbehavioural economics, public policy, tradingNick Dunbar

They spoke in a barely comprehensible 'patois' and adopted the trappings of consumerism, powered by new forms of technology. The forces of the law were nowhere to be found. Seeing high street institutions standing unguarded in front of them, they went in and pillaged without hindrance, prompting a mixture of anger and soul-searching among the…

Nudge and Predictably Irrational

13 January 2010Articles, Book Reviewsbehavioural economics, Cass Sunstein, Dan Ariely, Nudge, Predictably Irrational, Richard ThalerNick Dunbar

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein ( Yale University Press, 2008) Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely (Harper Collins, 2008) Just over a year ago, I made a rough estimate of the size of my income tax bill that I would…