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Behavioural Economics - Cruel to be Kind

Geoff Riley

19th May 2009

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Thanks to Mark Johnston who has unearthed several gems from the pages of the New Scientist over the years and has found another one with this article

“Classical economics says that no rational person should ever reduce their own income just to slash someone else’s. And yet that’s exactly what we do. Classical economics, it turns out, is a pretty terrible predictor of how we actually behave…..Economists, anthropologists and evolutionary biologists have been teasing out how, used judiciously, spiteful behaviour can be one of our best weapons in maintaining a fair and ordered society.”

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Geoff Riley

Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for nearly forty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD and Revision conferences in the UK and overseas.

@tutor2uGeoff

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