The most important thing happening during these next few weeks might *not* be the presidential election. I think one can make an argument that today’s antitrust case filed against Google might ultimately be a bigger deal. Our daily lives, our stock market, our mental health, our communities, and our jobs [Keep reading]
Writing about fairness in the business section risks ridicule and derision, but only from people who read just the first few pages of their Econ 101 textbook, then nap through the rest of the class. There’s some great research into people as economic actors and how they react to unfairness. [Keep reading]
Black voters were labeled for “deterrence,” and in states narrowly won by Trump, many stayed home on election day 2016. Click to watch Channel 4’s exclusive reporting. The Cambrdige Analytica scandal, and dirty digital electioneering tactics in general, are always going to be complex stories that are hard to get [Keep reading]
Frank Eufemia is the answer to a strange trivia question. Who did Buck Showalter announce as the opening day starter for the Yankees in 1995…but who never pitched for the Yankees? Frank’s dream — well, my dream — was squashed when everyone else’s prayers were answered, and the 1995 season [Keep reading]
“People are wired to focus on threats, so positive information is tuned out. When fear grabs our focus, our brains can’t seem to see anything else. That leads to a picture of the world that’s all gray clouds, no silver linings. There’s a link between attentional bias, depression and anxiety.” [Keep reading]
Some Bank of America customers say they logged in Wednesday and found their accounts showed $0 balances — leading some consumers to express fear and rage at the banking giant. The bank confirmed the issue to me and said it was resolved late Wednesday night. One consumer told me his [Keep reading]
Our minds often play tricks on us. It’s human nature. Believe it or not, people are Predictably Irrational (thanks, Dan Ariely). Marketers and salespeople use these tricks to their advantage; corporations have spent billions in research learning how to exploit consumers using these tricks. Everyone should know about them. I’ve [Keep reading]
It seems crazy, but housing prices have actually hit record highs in many places, and the housing market is sweltering. If you thought you might find a bargain during the pandemic, you are out of luck. How can this be? I wrote about this for CNBC’s Grow website recently. [Keep reading]
Once upon a time, Americans waited until dinnertime to find out what happened in the world that day. Then, Ted Turner had a crazy itch to scratch and everything changed. Not for the better, I’d argue. For starters, people now tune to TV news — and to the Internet — [Keep reading]
I recently published a story about scarcity, and its powerful impact as a marketing tool. Order today! Only 3 remaining! Today’s I’m sharing a piece I wrote for PeopleScience.com that describes the underlying principle/mental shortcut that empowers scarcity — loss aversion. Losses loom larger than gains. The pain of losing [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan