Behavioral Economics is a relatively new field and is one that is receiving much recognition. Popular books such as “Freakonomics” and “Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes” are just a couple of the books that fall in this category. These topics are incredibly interesting and are really making Economics a fun field to study.
“Behavioral economics and the related field, behavioral finance, study the effects of social, cognitive, and emotional factors on the economic decisions of individuals and institutions and the consequences for market prices, returns, and the resource allocation. The fields are primarily concerned with the bounds of rationality of economic agents. Behavioral models typically integrate insights from psychology with neo-classical economic theory; in so doing, these behavioral models cover a range of concepts, methods, and fields. The study of behavioral economics includes how market decisions are made and the mechanisms that drive public choice, such as biases towards promoting self-interest.”

For the current assignment:
• Find an current article that discusses behavioral economics and report their findings.
• For instance, the book “Freakonomics” looks at the similarities between sumo wrestlers and applied it to teachers who cheat when reporting test scores their students take.
• If you are unsure of which direction to go in, please contact me.