But George Akerlof aggressively seizes the booby prize. He apparently keeps his wealth in money market funds and the like. His justification? Less than zero: “I know it’s utterly stupid.”
The whole article reminds me of a quote I wrongly attributed to Einstein instead of Thomas Szasz: “Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence.”
Bryan Caplan, Four bad role models, EconLog, 12 May 2005
All four basically said that they have portfolios that their research says are stupid portfolios. I’m just like, what is wrong with you, like why do you do this? […]
To me it’s just so frustrating. This is the way a lot of people approach economics, is it’s like a game. Say you get publications or maybe you go and write things, but you don’t actually really use it to change behavior.
Bryan Caplan, 80,000 Hours Podcast, 22 May 2018
Added to diary 23 May 2018