In Michael Lewis' recent profile of Obama in Vanity Fair, the President remarks, “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I’m trying to
pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m
eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” While my work is much less stressful that Obama's, I too have stopped making eating decisions (I order what someone else at the table has ordered or whatever my wife cooks) to reduce the number of choices I have to make in daily life. If I go to the supermarket, rather than compare prices and sizes, I pick the brand name I see first. It is worth the extra 20 cents to not have to worry over another decision.
This begs the question: Does
more choice make us happier? The instinctive American response would
certainly be yes, but a compa
rison of German and US shoppers suggests
otherwise.
Posts
