Phishing for phools - The economics of manipulation and deception

Jun
02

Video

Insight

You are all being 'phished'

Economic models tend to assume that people are informed about the decisions they make, so that consumers are able to make markets work to their advantage. Robert Shiller argued that this assumption is at least partially wrong, as many competitive markets by their very nature spawn deception and trickery.

Read our full Insight on Phishing for phools by Maura Wyler, Head of Communication.

You are all being 'phished'

Economic models tend to assume that people are informed about the decisions they make, so that consumers are able to make markets work to their advantage. Robert Shiller argued that this assumption is at least partially wrong, as many competitive markets by their very nature spawn deception and trickery.

Read our full Insight on Phishing for phools by Maura Wyler, Head of Communication.

Nobel laureate Robert Shiller honors the 'unsung heroes' fighting against market abuse and therefore for a smoothly functioning market economy.
Nobel laureate Robert Shiller honors the 'unsung heroes' fighting against market abuse and therefore for a smoothly functioning market economy.
opinions-shiller_wide

Intro

It was a great honor for the UBS Center to present Prof. Robert J. Shiller (Yale University) on June 2, 2016, at the University of Zurich.

In his lecture Prof. Robert J. Shiller argued that "competitive markets by their very nature spawn deception and trickery." As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools."

In his latest book Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception, Nobel Prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller argue that "competitive markets by their very nature spawn deception and trickery."

It was a great honor for the UBS Center to present Prof. Robert J. Shiller (Yale University) on June 2, 2016, at the University of Zurich.

In his lecture Prof. Robert J. Shiller argued that "competitive markets by their very nature spawn deception and trickery." As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools."

Nobel laureate Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University
Nobel laureate Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University

Speakers

Nobelpreisträger, Sterling Professor für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Universität Yale
Prof. Robert J. Shiller
Nobelpreisträger, Sterling Professor für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Universität Yale
Prof. Robert J. Shiller

Venue

University of Zürich

Rämistrasse 71, Aula, KOL-G-201, 8006 Zurich
(Google Maps)