Cowen on Neuroeconomics

Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics at George Mason, and, with Alex Tabarrok, also of George Mason, the co-author of the Marginal Revolution blog, has just written his first column as one of the regular columnists in "Economic Scene."  The New York Times carries that column every Thursday morning in the Business section. 

Tyler's first column -- a terrific read -- is "Enter the Neuro-Economists: Why Do Investors Do What They Do?"  Neuroeconomics is a fascinating new field that has already provided some interesting results and from which much is expected.  Last Summer, for example, researchers in Switzerland reported experiments in which subjects who inhaled a mist containing oxytocin became more trusting.  (See Fehr, Fischbacher, and Kosfeld, "Neuroeconomic Foundations of Trust and Social Preferences," forthcoming in the American Economic Review.  A draft version is available here: Download fehr_neuroeconomic_foundations_of_trust.AER.pdf .) 

Congratulations to Tyler. 

TSU