The Mind of the Market | Michael Shermer

Shermer explains how evolution shaped the modern economy and why people are so irrational about money.

Drawing on the field of neuroeconomics, Shermer investigates what brain scans reveal about bargaining, snap purchases, and establishing trust in business. He scrutinizes experiments in behavioral economics to understand why people hang on to losing stocks, why negotiations disintegrate into tit-for-tat disputes, and why money does not make us happy.

He brings together astonishing findings from psychology, biology, and other sciences to describe...

• how our tribal ancestry makes us suckers for brands,
• why researchers believe cooperation unleashes biochemicals similar to those released during sex,
• why free trade promises to build alliances between nations,
• how even capuchin monkeys get indignant if they don’t get a fair reward for their work,
• ...and more!