As Paul Zak explained in the Neurobiology of Trust, the hormone Oxytocin is a pretty good indicator of a person's trustworthiness. When someone receives an anonymous monetary transfer connoting trust, Oxytocin rises. The stronger the signal of trust, the more Oxytocin increases.

As Brad Delong pointed out earlier this year, what's going to happen to contract negotiations and interest rates on individual loans when an Oxytocin Test (OT) becomes inexpensive and readily available?

Would you receive lower interest rates on your home loan or your credit cards if you took the test? Would it become prerequisite for any government job?

From an economic point of view, the OT would provide valuable information to help the market make a more efficient allocation of resources. Think about the resources we burn enforcing contracts, from the national and state levels to individuals personally — this economic loss could be avoided.

You work hard for what you have. Will you submit? Will you have a choice? As neurotechnology progresses there will indeed be tests for all sorts of behaviors. Just read what Carl Zimmer dragged up today.