1Is More Choice Always Better? by

Summary: Choice is viewed by many economists and some policy makers as always beneficial. Choice does confer major benefits. It can satisfy people’s varied tastes and promote competition among providers than lowers price and improves quality. Studies of the psychology of decision-making find, however, that expanded choices can also impose costs on decision-makers. It can absorb scarce time that people would prefer to spend on other activities, result in decision errors, and produce anxiety and regret. Using Social Security as an example, this paper suggests that the costs can outweigh the benefits when new choices require expertise that people lack, introduce new risks when people want security, and require that people predict an inherently unpredictable future