This paper presents some of the first large-scale survey evidence linking optimism to major economic choices. We create a novel measure of optimism using the Survey of Consumer Finance by comparing a person's self-reported life expectancy to that implied by statistical tables. Optimists are more...

"David Rock takes the reader inside the heads-literally-of a modern two-career couple as they mentally process their workday and show us how a more nuanced understanding of the brain allows us to better organize, prioritize, remember, and process our daily life"--