Free will

In research done by Baumeister, Masicampo and DeWall (2009) and Vohs and Schooler (2008), studies point out the positive effect of free will on a variety of behaviors that most people would consider beneficial. Indeed it seems that most of us already have a firm belief in free will and so we're already benefiting. For practical purposes, the danger is that our thoughts take a more deterministic turn and we move towards more aggression and cheating and away from helping behaviors.

My take is that if Obama and Congress need our participation in turning this ship around, he's going to have to encourage a sentiment of free will. The first step in doing so is to cut taxes.