Every one of us runs the same shortcut, and every one of us believes we are the exception. The textbook treats loyalty as a preference to be revealed. In practice it is a story we tell ourselves after the fact. Economists have spent decades modelling loyalty as a quantity. It behaves more like a weather system. A better account of loyalty would begin with the ordinary case rather than the laboratory one.
Who should read it
The remedy is rarely exhortation. It is a change to the situation so that the easier choice is also the better one. The mind that evolved for small groups and immediate dangers is now asked to manage a pension. It does its best. The lesson is modest. Build for the person who exists, not the one in the model. Understanding people turns out to be a more urgent task than changing them, and a great deal harder.
