A big part of Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking. Fast and Slow" is devoted to economic behavior and in general, people are not rational when it comes to money - in some cases risk averse, in other risk seeking. He explains a lot of studies on the topic. If you have some spare time, I recommend the book (though it's not an easy read, as it's very information-dense).
there are a lot of small near-practical applications, but it all really revolves around trying to be cognizant that our initial impressions/estimates vary wildly and are biased.
The book spends the entire time giving you countless examples to hammer the point home.
My favorite example from the book (via wikipedia)
Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.
Which is more probable?
a) Linda is a bank teller.
b) Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.
I skimmed through a little bit of that book and that is one of the ones I remember seeing that was very interesting. I should finish reading through it.
