A simple nudge may boost the number of people who pay their tax on time, writes The Independent. In a trial in the United Kingdom, tax office letters sent to self-assessment taxpayers that contained the statement that "nine out of 10 people in Britain pay their tax on time" and mentioned that most people in the recipient's local area (or postcode) had already paid their tax lead to a 15% rise in people paying their tax on time. It echoes earlier research analysed by Psychology Today about signs urging hotel guests to reuse towels.
Most of the time we can trust intuition and we do, Nobel Prize recipient Daniel Kahneman says in an interview with The Economist. But share trading is among the situations where Kahneman says “slow thinking” – or slowing down – may be better.
Commitment devices are a sort of “mind trick” to boost willpower and help accomplish goals, writes Freakonomics. They blog that making a bet with a friend or “a contract with ourselves” can be good for motivation.
