Over the holidays this year I read the book “Predictably Irrational, The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” by Dan Ariely.  The book explains that, “we are all far less rational in our decision making than standard economic theory assumes.  Our irrational behaviors are neither random nor senseless—they are systematic and predictable.”  Ariely documents countless studies and experiments that he and his fellow researchers have performed, many of them on his students at MIT, that refute the common belief that we are rational people.  Without giving away anything, I thought the three following statistics were quite astounding and important for the start of 2009.

• American personal savings have plummeted.  25 yrs ago they were double digit, in1994 they were almost 5%, in 2006 it was negative 1%.  Japan has 25%   China has 50% personal savings.
• In 1976 a typical CEO was paid 36 times the average worker.  In 1993 the CEO paid 131 times the average worker.  Today a CEO is paid 369 times the average worker.
• Possibly the most relevant statistic with the current Madoff, Blagojevich, and countless other corruption scandals is:  In 2004, the total cost of combined robberies in the US was $525M.  Theft and Fraud at the workplace is annually estimated at 600B.

I would highly recommend this book to entrepreneurs, anyone in sales, or individuals that simply want to better understand how they themselves or others make decisions and what influences really come into play.