Nudge is about choices-how we make them and how we can make better ones. Authors Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein offer a new perspective on preventing the countless mistakes we make- including ill-advised personal investments, consumption of unhealthy foods, neglect of our natural resources, and other bad decisions. Citing decades of cutting-edge behavioral science research, they demonstrate that sensible "choice architecture"can successfully nudge people towards the best decisions without restricting their freedom of choice. S straightforward, informative, and entertaining, this is a must-read for anyone with interest in our individual and collective well-being.
Nudge Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Humans and Econs
1. Biases and Blunders
2. Resisting Temptation
3. Following the Herd
4.When Do We Need a Nudge?
5. Choice Architecture
Part II: Money
6. Save More Tomorrow
7. Naive Investing
8. Credit Markets
9. Privatizing Social Security: Smorgasbord Style
Part III: Health
10. Prescription Drugs: Part D for Daunting
11. How to Increase Organ Donations
12. Saving the Planet
Part IV: Freedom
13. Improving School Choices
14. Should Patients Be Forced to Buy Lottery Tickets?
15. Privatizing Marriage
Part V: Extensions and Objections
16. A Dozen Nudges
17. Objections
18. The Real Third Way
19. Bonus Chapter: Twenty More Nudges
Postscript: November 2008
Notes
Bibliography
Index
"Fundamentally changes the way I think about the world. . . . Academics aren''t supposed to be able to write this well."
-Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics
"[An] utterly brilliant book. . . . Nudge won''t nudge you-it will knock you off your feet."
-Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness
"Nudge is as important a book as any I''ve read in perhaps twenty years. It is a book that people interested in any aspect of public policy should read. It is a book that people interested in politics should read. It is a book that people interested in ideas about human freedom should read. It is a book that people interested in promoting human welfare should read. If you''re not interested in any of these topics, you can read something else."
-Barry Schwartz, The American Prospect
"This book is terrific. It will change the way you think, not only about the world around you and some of its bigger problems, but also about yourself."
-Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball
Common "Nudges"
- The design of menus gets you to eat (and spend) more. For example, lining up all prices on either side of the menu leads many consumers to simply pick the cheapest item. On the other hand, discretely listing prices at the end of food descriptions lets people read about the appetizing options first…; and then see prices.
- "Flies" in urinals improve, well, aim. When Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was faced with the not uncommon issue of dirty urinals, they chose a unique solution: by painting "flies" in the (center of) commodes, men obligingly aimed at the insects, reducing spillage by 80 percent.
- Credit card minimum payments affect repayment schedules. Among those who only partially pay off credit card balances each month, the repayment level is correlated with the card's minimum payment — in other words, the lower the minimum payment, the longer it takes a consumer to pay off the card balance.
- Automatic savings programs increase savings rate. All over the country, companies are adopting the Save More Tomorrow program: firms offer employees who are not saving very much the option of joining a program in which their saving rates are automatically increased whenever they get a raise. This plan has more than tripled saving rates in some firms, and is now offered by thousands of employers.
- "Defaults" can improve rates of organ donation. In the United States, about one–third of citizens have signed organ donor cards. Compare this to Austria, where 99 percent of people are potential organ donors. One obvious difference? Americans must explicitly consent to become organ donors (by signing forms, for example) while Austrians must opt out if they do not want to be organ donors.
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Distributor: Penguin Group USA, Inc
Publication Date: 02-24-2009
Pages: 320
Measurements: 8.48in X 5.64in X 0.86in X 0.62lb
