Partnoy writes an all-too prescient parable of how unregulated markets, greed, and unchecked ambition can wreak havoc on an economic system.

What do these scenarios have in common: a professional tennis player returning a serve, a woman evaluating a first date across the table, a naval officer assessing a threat to his ship, and a comedian about to reveal a punch line? In this counterintuitive and insightful work, author Frank Partnoy weaves together findings from hundreds of scientific studies and interviews with wide-ranging experts to craft a picture of effective decision-making that runs counter to our brutally fast-paced world. Even as technology exerts new pressures to speed up our lives, it turns out that the choices we...

Argues that decisions of all kinds, whether 'snap' or long-term, benefit from being made at the last possible moment. Exploring decisions that must be made in a millisecond to those that take months and years, this title demonstrates that the ability to wait is crucial to getting the right answer and that gut instincts are often wrong.