Why are financial perceptions so different from reality?

Why are financial perceptions so different from reality?

Lawrence Gosling asks why the public vastly underestimates a variety of key financial decisions.

The highlight of the coalition government's first Budget in 2010 was the 'pasty tax' row - not because pasties should be taxed to reduce obesity, but because we found out the Chancellor had never been to Gregg's so did not know how much they cost. Gosling's Grouse: An overheated exchange Equally, it is not that long since David Cameron bumbled through questions about the cost of a pint of milk.  I raise the pint of milk issue because in a cracking piece of research by Ipsos MORI the public was asked about a wide variety of what you might call 'financial issues' in order to compa...