Rory Sutherland

You know, it's pretty logical that we should actually pool our resources in the provision of defense. And by the way, I would also argue that the ratio of those things probably changes. You know, there are periods where technologically we'd be better off spending money on collective goods, and there are periods where we're better off spending more money on individual goods.

And, you know, there's a ratio of the two. But you made the point that, first of all, if you allowed very high taxpayers some degree of control over where their tax was spent, that's the first thing. Interestingly, good luck with that, because it's called hypothecation.

And, you know, there's a ratio of the two. But you made the point that, first of all, if you allowed very high taxpayers some degree of control over where their tax was spent, that's the first thing. Interestingly, good luck with that, because it's called hypothecation.

And, you know, there's a ratio of the two. But you made the point that, first of all, if you allowed very high taxpayers some degree of control over where their tax was spent, that's the first thing. Interestingly, good luck with that, because it's called hypothecation.

Dan Ariely is a friend of mine, behavioral scientist, believes that you could get people paying tax much more happily if it were hypothecated. But the Treasury absolutely hate the idea because it removes from them the finance person's privilege of shoveling money around at their whim. So they absolutely hate... It also creates a level of accountability.

Dan Ariely is a friend of mine, behavioral scientist, believes that you could get people paying tax much more happily if it were hypothecated. But the Treasury absolutely hate the idea because it removes from them the finance person's privilege of shoveling money around at their whim. So they absolutely hate... It also creates a level of accountability.

Dan Ariely is a friend of mine, behavioral scientist, believes that you could get people paying tax much more happily if it were hypothecated. But the Treasury absolutely hate the idea because it removes from them the finance person's privilege of shoveling money around at their whim. So they absolutely hate... It also creates a level of accountability.

I'll tell you a clever case of hypothecation, by the way, was John Maynard Keynes. I think he had, it might have been a million pounds to spend. He was the bursar of King's College, Cambridge. And he had two things that were calls on his finances.

I'll tell you a clever case of hypothecation, by the way, was John Maynard Keynes. I think he had, it might have been a million pounds to spend. He was the bursar of King's College, Cambridge. And he had two things that were calls on his finances.

I'll tell you a clever case of hypothecation, by the way, was John Maynard Keynes. I think he had, it might have been a million pounds to spend. He was the bursar of King's College, Cambridge. And he had two things that were calls on his finances.

There was the Arts Theatre in Cambridge, which was run and still is, and owned, I think, by King's College, Cambridge, for whatever historical reason, and King's College Chapel, which is a famous, you know, glorious medieval building. And Keynes immediately gave a million pounds to the arts theater, and nothing to the chapels. And his argument was very simple.

There was the Arts Theatre in Cambridge, which was run and still is, and owned, I think, by King's College, Cambridge, for whatever historical reason, and King's College Chapel, which is a famous, you know, glorious medieval building. And Keynes immediately gave a million pounds to the arts theater, and nothing to the chapels. And his argument was very simple.

There was the Arts Theatre in Cambridge, which was run and still is, and owned, I think, by King's College, Cambridge, for whatever historical reason, and King's College Chapel, which is a famous, you know, glorious medieval building. And Keynes immediately gave a million pounds to the arts theater, and nothing to the chapels. And his argument was very simple.

He said, raising money for the chapel is a piece of piss, okay? I can get Americans to give money for this world-famous chapel, whereas raising money for the arts theater is going to be damn near impossible. So with the money I've got at my disposal, I'll give it to the things that can't raise money at the expense of things that can. The treasury absolutely hate hypothecation.

He said, raising money for the chapel is a piece of piss, okay? I can get Americans to give money for this world-famous chapel, whereas raising money for the arts theater is going to be damn near impossible. So with the money I've got at my disposal, I'll give it to the things that can't raise money at the expense of things that can. The treasury absolutely hate hypothecation.

He said, raising money for the chapel is a piece of piss, okay? I can get Americans to give money for this world-famous chapel, whereas raising money for the arts theater is going to be damn near impossible. So with the money I've got at my disposal, I'll give it to the things that can't raise money at the expense of things that can. The treasury absolutely hate hypothecation.

I also think that, for example, fundamentally, I mean, I've got an interesting idea, which I'll share with you, which I think is actually a usable idea, which is what I call charitable yield management. OK, let me explain. There are lots of things where you want to allocate resources according to willingness to pay. So I'll give you an example. I'm at Athens Airport.

I also think that, for example, fundamentally, I mean, I've got an interesting idea, which I'll share with you, which I think is actually a usable idea, which is what I call charitable yield management. OK, let me explain. There are lots of things where you want to allocate resources according to willingness to pay. So I'll give you an example. I'm at Athens Airport.

I also think that, for example, fundamentally, I mean, I've got an interesting idea, which I'll share with you, which I think is actually a usable idea, which is what I call charitable yield management. OK, let me explain. There are lots of things where you want to allocate resources according to willingness to pay. So I'll give you an example. I'm at Athens Airport.

There's a massive queue for passport control. There are people in front of me in the queue. I'm paranoid. I turn up at airports like three hours early. I'm totally paranoid like that. Other people, these people had left it a bit late. Their flight was leaving in 40 minutes. The queue was about 20 minutes long. I was pretty sympathetic.