Dear Economist,
As a keen silver surfer, I find YouTube an excellent way to revisit comedy favourites such as Monty Python and Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. I feel guilty watching pirated material, but what really puzzles me is why people post this material for my delectation. Can you explain?
O. Grizos
Answer at ft.com, subscription free.
Being a considerate father, I am planning a monetary incentive scheme to improve my 18-year-old son’s marks at school. Instead of executing a relative’s bequest as decreed, I intend to spend the €7,000 rewarding good results. During three semesters, he will have to pass 48 preliminary tests, then the main exams in the fourth and last semester. How should I divide up the capital?
Robert Saverin, a grateful father
While marketers and psychologists have long known that you can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, it has taken economic theory a little while to catch up with the idea. Most economic models are populated by decision-makers who have more in common with the cool-headed logician Mr Spock than the impulsive and self-destructive Homer Simpson.
There are good reasons for that...
Comments have been closed for this article.