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Radio 4,01 Aug 2026,9 mins

Would you take £50,000 or a 50/50 chance of £1m?

More or Less

Available for over a year

If you had a choice between instantly receiving £50,000 or a 50% chance to win £1m, which would you pick? When YouGov asked exactly that question to people in the UK, 73% said they would take the £50,000, while 21% opted for the 50/50 chance of winning £1m. As you may or may not have imagined, this finding provoked outrage on Twitter, with people saying the UK appeared incredibly risk averse. “This is what’s wrong with Britain,â€� wrote celebrity polling analyst and More or Less interviewee Nate Silver. But is the result surprising, when you know a bit more about how people make decisions like this? Âé¶¹Éç economics editor Faisal Islam explains why he thinks not. Image: Illustration of paper notes with a sterling pound symbol falling. Credit: Jamie Lawton/Getty Images Presenter: Lizzy McNeill Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Siobhan Reed Sound engineer: Donald MacDonald Editor: Richard Vadon

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