Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much

by Sendhil Mullainathan

You wouldn’t be surprised if the cashier hadn’t heard the order of fries just when a train passed by. So you (and her manager) shouldn’t be surprised if, lost in thought about how to make rent this month, she overlooks the order of fries. She is not being careless. She is preoccupied. Thoughts such as, Should I risk being late again on my credit card? can be every bit as loud as a passing train. The manager with the impending sales pitch tries to focus on her daughter’s game. Yet before she knows it, she finds herself ruminating on the sales pitch. The student tries to focus on the exam at hand but is constantly interrupted by thoughts of the looming tuition bill. Even smiling and being pleasant is hard when your mind is taxed. The employee snaps at rude customers more often than she intends. The parent snaps at the child. A taxed bandwidth leads to carelessness. The student forgets his study group meeting. The server rings up the wrong item. The bandwidth tax changes us in surprising