If there is one thing that we should have learned from the under-pricing of risk that led to last autumn's banking collapse, it's that those in charge of City financial institutions were not encouraged to make sensible, timely decisions. What is now obvious is how little respect was given to the notion of caution.

Here, Tasler identifies basic human traits that influence decision-making. Despite not directly referencing recent events, he offers an insight into the City meltdown. His main aim is to raise awareness of the approach to decision-making.

He highlights several studies suggesting that a quarter of the population has a predisposition to seek out risks. Thus, the City market-makers may have been following their instincts, after all. The real danger, as Tasler shows with an analysis of previous booms, comes as the more cautious three-quarters follow the trend, due to a fear of missing out. While never suggesting that impulsive people are inherently bad for society, he argues that a better understanding of why certain people make the judgments they do would help all of us in our decision-making.

Simon & Schuster, £12.99