How Stories Drive Our Happiness and Financial Success

Stories determine economic and financial outcomes, both our own and the world in aggregate. Here's how to craft and follow stories that will lead to better financial outcomes and greater happiness.

Topics covered include:

• How financial narratives give us the confidence to take action in the face of uncertainty and potential loss
• How the greater the stakes, the more we rely on anecdotal evidence rather than statistics
• Is the world more stable and predictable or in a constant state of disorder
• How stories determine what we buy and aspire to and how marketers try to influence those stories
• How stories of fear and greed influenced economic outcomes in the 1920s and 1930s
• How more precise stories lead to greater confidence and potentially to manipulation.
• How to get off the hedonic treadmill in order to be happier

Thanks to OurCrowd and Policygenius for sponsoring the episode.

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Show Notes

Joseph Campbell & The Hero’s Journey by Tamlorn Chase—Odyssey Online

Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems by Lance H. Gunderson

Horisaki Design & Handel

Optimizing SKU Selection for Promotional Display Space at Grocery Retailers by Pak Et al.

The Role of Sentiment in the Economy of the 1920s by Kabiri Et al.

Monetary Policy and the Management of Uncertainty: A Narrative Approach by Bank of England Publications Et al.

Impressed by Numbers: The Extent to Which Novice Investors Favor Precise Numerical Information in a Context of Uncertainty by Batteux Et al.

When poignant stories outweigh cold hard facts: A meta-analysis of the anecdotal bias by Freling Et al.

Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events by Robert J. Shiller

Walgreens replaced some fridge doors with screens. And some shoppers absolutely hate it by Nathaniel Meyersohn—CNN

Supermarket Facts—FMI

How To Want Less by Arthur C. Brooks—The Atlantic

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