Winter has been a season of surprises, and spring is ripe for more. The richest, most electable candidate in the Republican primary race is losing ground to a man who doesn't believe in evolution. Millions of homeowners remain underwater, yet rents are rising. The unemployment rate is falling, but the temperature of protectionist rhetoric is heating up. Even culture is bucking the conventional wisdom: highbrow nostalgia show Downton Abbey is a hit, while high-tech sci-fi flick John Carter bombs.
This all seems confusing and contradictory, but it makes perfect sense to people in the burgeoning field of emotional economics. Investment expert...