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Powerful thought
Economics can help us understand our choices and behaviour even better if it looks inside our heads
Isn’t language wonderful? Particularly when you’re learning a language different from your mother tongue and you come across idiomatic expressions, you realize the rich diversity in how we convey incredibly complex concepts. The English phrase “a penny for your thoughts” (apparently first recorded by none other than Thomas More), is one such expression. It filled me with wonder when I first came across it, and it has since acquired additional significance for me.
I learned that it is what one says to someone deep in thought, inviting them to share what preoccupies them. But it also hints at the idea that thoughts may be exchanged for money, or even that they can have monetary value. That is an intriguing possibility for an accidental behavioural economist.
Information can, of course, have value. Imagine someone had reliable information on who is currently carrying the novel coronavirus and who isn’t, and who has antibodies (and is therefore most likely immune) and who hasn’t. Such information would allow governments to accurately plan and effectively implement a swift relaxation of lockdowns, and enable social and economic activity to start up again. We cannot begin to calculate, even approximately…
