Humans aren’t rational… and yet so much economic modelling assumes we are. 

In this episode, we look at a Canadian experiment that investigated the ‘gamification’ of investment apps… and how one minor tweak to the app saw people increase the number of trades by a whopping 40%. 

We meet behavioural finance specialists Angel Zhong (RMIT University) and Ravi Dutta Powell (The Behavioural Insights Team) who explain how cognitive biases impact how we assess risk and make investment decisions. 

Life and Shares is a four-part series that helps you understand the rules of the game so you can make informed decisions. This podcast is presented by The Ethics Centre, an independent not-for-profit that advocates for a more ethical society. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians.  

For the first two months of COVID, nearly 5,000 Australians opened an online trading account… every day. Eighty percent of them lost money.

So, is trading gambling? We speak with a clinical psychologist who’s concerned about the lack of awareness and resources for people addicted to trading. We also speak with co-founder of the International Day Trading Academy Cameron Buchanan, who admits that while trading is gambling, he thinks there’s an essential difference.

Life and Shares is a four-part series that helps you understand the rules of the game so you can make informed decisions. This podcast is presented by The Ethics Centre, an independent not-for-profit that advocates for a more ethical society. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians.  

If video killed the radio star, have brokerage apps killed the stockbroker? What’s the role of robo-advisers? And how are algorithms shaping the marketplace?  

Did you know that the big players in financial services can pay to get “privileged access” to the ASX? We ask Paul Lajbcygier from the Monash Data Futures Institute, is that fair? 

We also hear from UNSW Professor Gigi Foster who thinks greed and profit make the market go round – and that’s not a bad thing. But on the other hand, she acknowledges there’s a growing class of people who don’t work for their wages – they just move their investments around.  

Life and Shares is a four-part series that helps you understand the rules of the game so you can make informed decisions. This podcast is presented by The Ethics Centre, an independent not-for-profit that advocates for a more ethical society. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians.