behavioral economics

It's been another eclectic week, perhaps this time with a Thanksgiving feel. On tap here: Do our food choices reflect our politics? ... A beautifully written article on an American icon, Mr. Rogers ... How websites are trying to influence your purchases ... and the best mainstream piece on our vaping "crisis."
Flawed, idealized metrics like life expectancy are often used to report success of a nation or its health delivery apparatus. A new study suggests the lion's share of curbing premature death may not reside there.
Smokers, like the rest of us, believe that a small reward today is worth a bigger penalty in the future. Smokers also believe that this future is further away than non-smokers. Or put another way, "I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."
How far will behavioral economics go to improve our health and decrease costs?
Two psychologists are the subject of Michael Lewis’s latest book, The Undoing Project. Their collaboration was the nursery that has given us the field of behavioral economics, and the story of an intellectual marriage.