ACCC v Google

I was having a look at the recent ACCC against Google about location data. There was an interesting quote from Professor List from the University of Chicago who gave evidence for Google.

In discussing the traditional economic models of decision making, List described the characterstics of the archetypal rational consumer in the following, admittedly extreme, terms:

...unswervingly rational, completely selfish, analytical, reliable, and (able to) effortlessly and costlessly solve even the most difficult optimization problems (at para 52).  

...and to think our system of competition regulation is based largely on the supposed existence of large numbers of these types of individuals.