I don’t listen to Nick Ferrari on LBC very often. His antagonistic way of dealing with complex problems gets me screaming at the radio far too easily. Last month was a perfect example. Someone from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation was on discussing research showing that about 7 million people are struggling to afford basic essentials, including toothpaste and toothbrushes, because of the cost of living crisis.

This did not strike me as a controversial finding. The cost of fuel, heating, food, school, clothes – everything – has gone up, while wages and benefits have not risen enough to keep pace. Ferrari, however, latched on to the toothbrushes. I found myself listening to him talk about the price of cheap toothbrushes in pound shops and at Asda. At times, it sounded like a price-comparison advert. At other times, it sounded like lazy journalism: take a complicated issue, strip it of all context and turn it into something that will generate outrage, clicks and applause.

Had I been on the show, I would have brought both my lived experience and my academic knowledge to the argument. I would have explained why a person living in poverty might buy cheap wine instead of a cheap toothbrush.

The first thing I would have talked to Ferrari about is decision-making. How we decide what to buy, what not to buy and where to spend our money is shaped by far more than price. One of the first questions we ask, often without realising it, is whether the thing we are buying will help us now or later.

You know those people who buy 48 toilet rolls because they are on special offer? They can look ahead and think: spending more now will save me money later. Psychologists might describe this as delayed gratification. It requires the ability to resist an immediate need or reward in order to benefit in the future.

Stress makes that........

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