Mind Over Money

Sometimes we choose by not choosing. Behavioral economists have long recognized our tendency to avoid making decisions. The more difficult the decision, the more we avoid the question all together. Thaler and Sunstein wrote a book called “Nudge.” In it, they cite all kinds of instances of this tendency to avoid choosing. Of course, the [...]

I love reading letters to the editor from all over the country. A recent local letter was titled “Entitlements making America collapse.” The author said “entitlements is a dirty word,” and reported that 50 percent of Americans are receiving some form of entitlement. He was convinced these were all a bunch of deadbeats. In 1950, [...]

The retail season started with a bang, as traditional retailers added 6.6 percent to their sales from last year. Online retailers are picking up steam that is fueled not just by improvements in economic trends. More and more, we are shopping from our computers. While the big shopping day for traditional retailers is Friday, the [...]

Thanksgiving week found us traveling through the Arizona desert. My dad had been wanting to take a trip to the Grand Canyon. At 83, he needed our help to make the journey. We had never seen the canyon, so this seemed like a good family trip. We flew into Phoenix and rented a car for [...]

I was recently speaking with an international graduate student about his impending graduation. As we talked about job possibilities, he told me that he would really like to work for himself. I asked if he had friends or relatives who would be willing to give him money to invest and manage. He hesitated. He smiled. [...]