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Richard Thaler shares his approach to writing his new book, which includes providing concise takeaways for both economists and general readers. He emphasizes the value of making complex economic concepts accessible and engaging.
Richard Thaler shares a poignant memory of his mentor, Amos Tversky, who, while facing terminal cancer, emphasized the value of storytelling in learning. Thaler uses this lesson in his classes, arguing that stories help people understand complex concepts.
Richard Thaler highlights the ethical considerations of nudges, noting that while they can be used to help people make better decisions, they can also be exploited for profit, as seen in the design of casinos and online gambling platforms.
Richard Thaler notes that the largest economics department in the world is now at Amazon, with over 100 PhDs working on data-driven experiments. This highlights the growing importance of economics in real-world applications.
Richard Thaler discusses the resistance he faced in academia when introducing behavioral economics. He recalls a time when he presented his theories on saving behavior to a psychology department, and the audience laughed because they found the traditional economic models unrealistic. Thaler points out that economists believed people behaved like expert billiards players, acting as if they knew physics, which he found absurd.
Richard Thaler and Danny Kahneman explored fairness in economics by asking if it's fair for a hardware store to raise snow shovel prices after a blizzard. Most people said no, except business school students, who believed it was justified based on microeconomic principles.
Richard Thaler discusses his project of revisiting and updating his 1992 book on economic anomalies. He highlights the importance of verifying whether the foundational experiments still hold true today, both in theory and in real-world applications.
Behavioral economics emerged when psychologists started questioning traditional economic models, pointing out that people don't always act rationally. This led to a more nuanced understanding of economic behavior.