Essays
Long reads on how we actually think, decide and live.
The tyranny of the default
Most of the choices that shape a life were never chosen at all.
The memory of the group chat
The cost is obvious, the benefit is diffuse, and so the benefit loses.
The pension that enrolled itself
Automatic enrolment is the revolution's great success. It is also its only one.
A short history of the borrowed book
The story we tell afterwards is tidier than the choice we made at the time.
The promise
A cheap, gentle, evidence-based way to make people better off. What could go wrong?
Hope is a slow bargain
The mind is built for a different world. It copes remarkably well with this one.
The luck of the receipt
Before we try to fix people, it is worth understanding what they are for.
The luck of the polite refusal
What feels like a preference is often just a default nobody questioned.
A short history of the late fee
Economists have a model. The rest of us have a Tuesday.
The case against the late fee
Most advice assumes a person who never existed.
A short history of the rounding error
The story we tell afterwards is tidier than the choice we made at the time.
Why we change our minds so rarely
The evidence is clear, the incentives are not, and the incentives usually win.