Scarcity

Why does a top-class chef, after years carefully perfecting her craft, create her best dish in just two rushed hours?

Why are students less likely to miss tighter deadlines?

Why are the terminally ill often happier than the healthy, and why do those struggling to make ends meet find it so difficult to escape debt?

Here, economist Sendhill Mullainathan and psychologist Eldar Shafir reveal that the answers lie in the new and surprising science of scarcity.

Scarcity is not just a word: it's a mindset. It connects many of the diverse problems we face in life, from why the overweight can't stop eating, to why insomniacs can't sleep and the lonely find it so hard to make friends. Folk wisdom tells us not to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach - because you'll buy the wrong sort of food, and too much of it. Now, the latest research in psychology and economics shows that when we don't have enough, not only do we make the wrong choices, our brains also change. We have less mind to devote to the rest of our lives, or, in other words, we lack mental 'bandwidth'.

By understanding these problems, Scarcity reveals how we can improve our ability to achieve our goals, and even turn a lack of time or other resources to our advantage. If you've ever wondered whyy you can never seem to keep on top of your workload, social diary or chores, why some people are more successful than others, or why some of us have more than others, Scarcity will make you see that more isn't always more.