The demand and supply of guilt

In the NYT today, an article by John Tierney on guilt and childhood behaviour. It's worth the read. Basically, it argues that there is a demand for guilt in that it assists in developing good social behaviour later on and there are some issues in expanding the supply of guilt from your children.

It is an interesting read; especially, the important distinction between shame and guilt. It also picks up a theme that I wrote about in Parentonomics regarding installing guilt in the utility function to ensure good eating behaviour.