This Is How an Economist Eats Dessert

Teresa Ghilarducci, an economist who directs the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School in New York, doesn't eat dessert the way you do. Instead, she assembles a concoction for free, avoiding the high-markup items on the menu. "I like it because I know I'm getting something free, and I'm not giving the restaurant a really high profit margin," she says. This gives her pleasure, and more pleasure than she would have by eating no dessert at all. "There's nothing fun about being frugal," says Ghilarducci, an expert on retirement security and author of the forthcoming book How to Retire with Enough Money, and How to Know What Enough Is.