Six weeks ago, marooned in Helsinki by a rogue Icelandic volcano, I noticed a strong divergence of opinion between those of my colleagues in a similar situation and those with no travel plans. For me and my fellow FT columnist Gideon Rachman, it was the end of the world – even if Gideon, who wasn't rushing back for his wife's birthday, accepted it with a sangfroid that I failed to muster. For those safely in the UK, the ash cloud was a minor distraction from important matters such as the Euro crisis and the British election.

My agitation wasn't mere self-centredness (it's important because I'm important) but an example of what psychologists and behavioural economists call the “availability heuristic” – that something must be important because it's easy for me to call it to mind.

I might have blamed sleep deprivation and uncertainty for my lack of good cheer as I tried to work out how to get back home in time to hand my wife a bunch of flowers and resume my election coverage, but what really tipped me into an economists' hysteria was trying to buy a copy of the FT and realising I couldn't. (Presumably it is not printed within an easy drive of Helsinki.)