The Mind on Money
Are our brains different when they're in debt? Perhaps, says Tim Harford in this intriguing column, Your Brain On Credit.
Harford, author of "The Logic of Life" and "The Undercover Economist," runs through some of the economics research on the topic. He cites studies suggesting that credit cards make us more likely to spend money.
But he ends with a recent study that suggests we are all just creatures of our financial environment.
One final, intriguing perspective on the strange interaction between easy money and the human brain comes from two California-based economists, Stefan Nagel and Ulrike Malmendier. Using financial surveys dating back to the mid-1960s, they have found that each individual's financial behavior is shaped by the stock market returns he or she has witnessed over the course of his or her life.
Money is definitely on the mind. As I was writing this post, I found Jessica Stillman's post This is Your Brain on Money, which looks at a different set of studies on the brain and money.
My bet is that everybody's brain will be a little more thrifty for at least the near future. A penny for your thoughts?