Tim Harford excerpt of the day
Economics usually assumes rational behaviour, and so the very idea of a
self-help book or a problem page such as “Dear Economist” is subversive
to economic orthodoxy. Rational economic agents don’t need self-help
books, and they don’t write to problem pages either. If we admit that
people need advice, we chip away at the foundations of most economic
thought. That is strangely reassuring.