Basic Instincts: Human Nature and the New Economics

Human instincts are surprisingly sophisticated and subtle, having adapted over generations of trading with each other. Understanding how these instincts work can not only change the way you think about your own affairs, it can alter how you think about a whole range of economic and business issues (from what constitutes a fair salary to the impact of globalisation).A new breed of economists - known as behavioural economists - has started to observe economic life more closely. This book reveals the fascinating results of their studies . Human instincts have long been ignored by traditional economics, but they are crucial factors in major economic decisions, and hence important for our futures. This engaging book is about those human instincts and how the study of them has begun to change fundamentally the science of economics and our own behaviour in today's world

Pete Lunn is a post doctorate fellow at the Economic and Social Research Institute. He has an MSc. in Economics and a Ph.D. from the University of London. He is a former journalist with BBC's Newsnight and was the founding editor of Ireland's first specialist talk radio station, NewsTalk 106.