Consumer Psychology

Phishing for Phools Summary of Key Points

‘Phishing for Phools’ explores the darker side of the free market, where deception and manipulation are not anomalies but inherent features. Nobel Prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller argue that markets are filled with tricks and traps, which they term ‘phishing for phools’. They illustrate how manipulation spans from personal finance to politics, underlining that no one is immune. The book combines economic theory, psychological insights, and real-world examples to demonstrate how phishing affects everyone, and calls for a more enlightened capitalism that guards against deceit.