Showing results by author "Richard H. Thaler"

Every day, we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. The reason, the authors explain, is that, being human, we are all susceptible to various biases that can lead us to blunder. Our mistakes make us poorer and less healthy; we often make bad decisions involving education, personal finance, health care, mortgages and credit cards, the family, and even the planet itself.

Every day, we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. The reason, the authors explain, is that, being human, we are all susceptible to various biases that can lead us to blunder. Our mistakes can make us poor and unhealthy. We often make bad decisions about education, personal finance, health care, family, and the environment.

In Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, the authors provide information on how the configuration of the places in which we make decisions influences our choices. The quantity that we eat depends on the size of our plate, the foods we pick in the cafeteria depends on where they are placed at an eye level. However, the same tendency also affects decisions with more significant consequences.

Richard H. Thaler, a professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and Will Tucker, a vice president at ideas42, report on how a potent mix of modern technology and new government policy is about to transform disclosure – and with it the workings of many parts of the economy.