Dan Ariely on the Irrationality of Bonuses

You’ve perhaps heard the buzz around Dan Ariely’s new book, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home. (If not, read this review in the NY Times.) Appearing at PopTech! last year, Ariely spent 20 minutes fleshing out an argument in his book. A professor of behavioral economics at Duke University, Ariely turns some basic assumptions about workplace compensation right on their head … and even explains why, in some strange way, it makes sense that highly compensated Wall Street bankers could do so much damage to our financial system.

Note: You can listen to Ariely getting interviewed earlier this week on my favorite San Francisco talk show. The conversation revolves around The Upside of Irrationality.