Gajus/Shutterstock
Governments gently cajoling people towards better life choices is only one side of the nudge theory.
Professor Richard Thaler.
EPA-EFE/Carsten Rehder/Pool
His work on behavioural economics helps us better understand why people make bad financial decisions.
The Swedish monarch presenting a Nobel Prize.
The Nobel Foundation
Taking a look at the likely contenders for the Memorial Prize in Economics gives us an idea of where economics is and where it is headed.
If people want commodities like: love, company, doing tasks together, they are better off if marriage is permitted.
David Crosling/AAP
It’s better for the economy for more people to be married because of productivity and efficiency gains. This whole framework doesn’t require people to be of the same or different sex.
A Bitcoin (virtual currency) souvenir coin. But cryptocurrencies like this can be debt and equity as well.
MAXIM SHIPENKOV/AAP
Despite its name, cryptocurrency isn’t just money. It could also be debt or equity and so it should be regulated and taxed in the same way as other finance.
British Library
Historically, there have been numerous cultural manifestations of austerity that shed light on its enduring appeal.
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Too many economists have refused to take seriously the idea that Brexit could economically benefit the UK.
Cyclists on Melbourne’s Obikes next to Federation square
AAP
There is more to bike-share schemes than first meets the eye. As they grow in global popularity, the economic models behind them become increasingly diversified.
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To get them back, Economics 101 courses need to address real problems.
A woman in Seoul, South Korea, talks over her phone as computer screens show the Korea Stock Exchange collapsing during the financial crisis of 2008.
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP
The craze for measurement has become a hallmark of local and national public policy. Exploring the limits of quantification allows us to understand the advantages of developing alternative indicators.
The financial impact of Hurricane Katrina on individual lives has been little studied until now.
Reuters/Robert Galbraith
Researchers examined credit data on the victims of Hurricane Katrina to understand how the disaster affected their personal finances, revealing important lessons for those hurt by Harvey.
Business leaders in ASX categories relying on household spending, have stronger than average positive outlook on the future.
Dan Peled/AAP
The sentiment of business leaders has remained positive and improved over the past 12 months according to our analysis.
Unbalanced.
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Inequality was the hot button issue at the triennial meeting of the world’s top economists.
Employment rose in July, with 27,900 jobs created.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
The Reserve Bank of Australia is stuck, according to the economic evidence, it has to raise rates but it also should cut.
Fertility rates have fallen from 2.02 babies per woman in 2008 to 1.81 in 2015.
Robert McGrath/AAP
The baby bonus did its job, encouraging people to have more children at a time when fertility rates were low.
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Most law schools frown upon their students questioning how laws were originally conceived. But a Canadian law school once argued convincingly that law should be taught as a social science.
Having only a few people with most of the wealth, motivates others. This theory is actually wrong according to research.
Aakkosia sosialistien lapsille (1912)/Flickr
Inequality actually restricts people from earning more, educating themselves and becoming entrepreneurs.
The absolute level of income tends to be higher in the cities than the regions - but this has always been so.
Dan Peled/AAP
New research released today by the Grattan Institute shows that income growth and unemployment rates are not obviously worse in regional areas.
Costs of transportation and accessibility are just two factors that increase cost of living for persons with disabilities.
Corepics VOF/shutterstock.com
Depending on where you live, having a disability can cost thousands of additional dollars per year. Government programs often don’t account for that.
The economics of the money-back guarantee can work for retailers.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The economics of the money-back guarantee can work in retailers’ favour, in certain circumstances.