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Behaviour and money
Despite all the behavioural economics talk, conventional incentives remain a major influence (albeit not necessarily as intended!) on our behaviour — and vice versa
The state of New York is the latest territory where new measures to reduce single-use packaging have come into force. Plastic bags are banned, and if you want a paper bag, the shops in several cities (including New York City) will charge you 5 cents. It is enough to make the heart of any righteous, libertarian paternalist nudger break out into spontaneous bleeding.
That a ban can be an effective way to influence behaviour is easy to understand -depending on how it is enforced at least. The great economist Gary Becker had a point, when he argued that, often, we are rational criminals at heart: the conventional economic view of a ban is that it imposes such a high price on violating it, that it outweighs the expected gain of doing so.
Small charge, large effect
But the imposition of a small charge for each bag you need is on a different scale. Imagine yourself in the supermarket a couple of years ago — before any such measures — with, say, £150 ($195, €175) worth of shopping in the trolley, enough to fill six or seven plastic carriers. Then the till…
