New York Times Science writer John Tierney writes about how there are interesting patterns of brain activity that can predict whether or not you will spend money on something or not, leading scientists to develop the Tightwad-Spendthrift scale.
It seems that neither tightwads nor spendthrifts fit what economists have lazily described as “rational actors”. It seems that spendthrifts are more driven by their nucleus accumbens, providing dopamine jolts when they anticipate buying something cool; whereas tightwads are driven more by their insula, developing a propensity to experience direct pain when they spend money.
Could we be very far from dopamine dampening drugs as a “shopping recovery therapy” for shopaholics, or even more frighteningly, dopamine spritzers attached to credit card machines at checkouts?
Tags: consumerism, economics, frugal
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