Irrational People, Dystopian Film, Integration, HeroismThe Morning Show • Season 1, Episode 315
Sep 24, 2014 • 1h 44m
FREE MARKET MADNESS
Despite our best intentions, Dr. Peter Ubel says humans often let their emotions over ride reason and end up making irrational decisions. We roll over and hit the snooze button instead of going to the gym, even though we know we’ll feel better if we exercise or lose a bit of weight. We take out home loans we can’t possibly afford. And how to explain the fact that people named Paul are more likely to move to St. Paul than other cities?
In his book “Free Market Madness: Why Human Nature is at Odds with Economics – and Why it Matters,” Ubel (a professor of business, public policy and medicine at Duke University) argues for the “moral philosophy” of markets. “Markets don’t help people make perfect decisions.”
He points to the current obesity epidemic in the U.S. and says the “free market causes it,” by “making foods so tasty and cheap and easy to consume.” Ubel doesn’t let us off for our choices to consume foods that make us fat, but says the we need to recognize the market’s role in encouraging obesity: “There’s plenty of blame to go around.”
To those who resent the idea of government regulation impinging on their freedom to choose what to eat or how much debt to incur in buying a house, Ubel warns, “we’re often less free than we think. People are very susceptible” to influences of corporate marketers targeting their emotions to trigger decisions that are not good for their physical or financial health.
Ubel’s most recent book, “Critical Decisions: How You and Your Doctor Can Make the Right Medical Choices Together,” adds an additional layer to his argument. “Patients have a right to make decisions,” says Ubel. But he says the current medical system does not provide patients with enough information to make good decisions. He urges doctors to be more transparent about the choices they offer patients – and he urges patients to push for a clear understanding of those choices. “Doctors often don’t realize that they’re leading patients down a treatment path that will bankrupt the patient – a