Colin Camerer of Caltech talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his research programme on ‘neuroeconomics’ – the creation and use of data on brain processes to suggest new underpinnings for economic theories, which explain how much people save, why there are strikes, why the stock market fluctuates, the nature of consumer confidence and its effect on the economy, and so on. The interview was recorded at the American Economic Association meetings in New Orleans in January 2008.