Tag Archives: financial sector

The Heart Rules the Head When We Make Financial Decisions

Our ‘gut feelings’ influence our decisions, overriding ‘rational’ thought, when we are faced with financial offers that we deem to be unfair, according to a new study. Even when we are set to benefit, our physical response can make us more likely to reject a financial proposition we consider to be unjust.

Conducted by a team from the University of Exeter, Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and University of Cambridge, the research is published in the journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioural Neuroscience.

The research adds to growing evidence that our bodies can sometimes govern how we think and feel, rather than the other way round. It also reveals that those people who are more in tune with their bodies are more likely to be led by their ‘gut feelings’. (more…)

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Researchers Skeptical About Bank Taxes, Regulations Still Needed

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Taxes on executive bonuses, financial transactions and excess profits are a few of the taxes proposed or enacted to punish banks for their role in the recent financial crisis, but most of these ideas have shortcomings, says a University of Michigan economist.

“A number of potentially complicated and ambitious new taxes on the financial sector are currently being discussed,” said Joel Slemrod, professor of economics and the Paul W. McCracken Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “While the recent financial crisis shows how important it is to consider whether such instruments might help to improve incentives, reform efforts should not unduly focus on the exotic and new at the expense of the familiar and old. (more…)

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10 Million UK Consumers Sought Financial Advice Online in September 2010

*More Than One Out of Three Financial Advice Seekers Visited Moneysupermarket.com*

London, UK, 02 November, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a ranking of top Financial Information/Advice Sites in the UK based on September 2010 data from its comScore Media Metrix service. Nearly 10 million internet users turned to the web for financial advice, spending an average of 15 minutes on sites in the category during the month.

Data from the comScore Ad Metrix service revealed that Adaptive Affinity ranked as the top online display advertiser amongst financial companies, reaching nearly 58 percent of the total UK online audience in September 2010, by promoting its site Quickcreditscore.co.uk. (more…)

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