[pygy_]

For one, the amount of refined sugar in our diet exploded recently.

More generally, even if the molecular building blocks didn't change, the way food is prepared industrially and marketed makes us more likely to eat too much of it.

[DanielleMolloy]

A lot of our modern economy seems to be relying on human predisposition to addictions. Think sugar / carbs, alcohol, tobacco, certain games, news and social media and their recommendation engines. All exploiting similar neural pathways.

[pygy_]

Yup. The free market as the end to all means relies on several incorrect assumptions:

1) humans are not rational agents that always pursue their best interest

2) local optimization (what the market does) doesn't always lead to a global optimum

3) oftentimes the interest of investors and consumers diverge and the former have far more power (information asymmetry).