"Phishing For Phools": A Q&A With Robert Shiller

“Phishing For Phools”: A Q&A With George Akerlof And Robert Shiller by Jason Zweig

The free market isn’t merely the best mechanism ever devised to provide people with what they want; it is also the best mechanism ever devised to provide people with what they don’t want. That is the thesis of the new book Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception, by Nobel laureates in economics George A. Akerlof and Robert J. Shiller.

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While some of the argument may seem obvious—surely it isn’t a surprise that some people cheat at least some of the time—“Phishing for Phools” contends that free markets can create fertile opportunities to profit from dishonesty.

Mr. Akerlof is a professor of...