Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness

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Overview

For fans of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, a revelatory new look at how we make decisions
A New York Times bestsellerAn Economist Best Book of the YearA Financial Times Best Book of the Year
Nudge is about choices—how we make them and how we can make better ones. Drawing on decades of research in the fields of behavioral science and economics, authors Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. ...
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Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

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More About This Book

Overview

For fans of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, a revelatory new look at how we make decisions
A New York Times bestsellerAn Economist Best Book of the YearA Financial Times Best Book of the Year
Nudge is about choices—how we make them and how we can make better ones. Drawing on decades of research in the fields of behavioral science and economics, authors Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein offer a new perspective on preventing the countless mistakes we make—ill-advised personal investments, consumption of unhealthy foods, neglect of our natural resources—and show us how sensible “choice architecture” can successfully nudge people toward the best decisions. In the tradition of The Tipping Point and Freakonomics, Nudge is straightforward, informative, and entertaining—a must-read for anyone interested in our individual and collective well-being.
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Editorial Reviews

Benjamin M. Friedman
Yes, there is such a thing as common sense—and thank goodness for that. At least that's this reader's reaction to Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's Nudge, an engaging and insightful tour through the evidence that most human beings don't make decisions in the way often characterized (some would say caricatured) in elementary economics textbooks, along with a rich array of suggestions for enabling many of us to make better choices, both for ourselves and for society.
—The New York Times
Library Journal

In the first of these two books exploring human behavior and the choices we make, organizational expert Ori Brafman (coauthor, The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations) and his psychologist brother, Rom, an organizational expert, discuss the various psychological forces (e.g., diagnosis bias and loss aversion) that cause people to act irrationally. To help illuminate their discussion, they draw on the latest research in social psychology, behavioral economics, and organizational behavior. In Nudge, Thaler (behavioral science & economics, Graduate Sch. of Business, Univ. of Chicago) and Sunstein (jurisprudence, Univ. of Chicago Law Sch.) consider how the science of choice can gently "nudge" individuals toward making life-improving decisions. They divide the text into five parts-"Humans and Econs," "Money," "Health," "Freedom," and "Extensions and Objections"-and employ numerous examples throughout. Easy to read, conversational in tone, and story-driven, Sway is suitable for public libraries. Nudge, a more research-based analysis full of practical solutions to real-life problems, is strongly recommended for public libraries.
—Anita N. Jennings

Time

"Two University of Chicago professors sketch a new approach to public policy that takes into account the odd realities of human behavior, like the deep and unthinking tendency to conform. Even in areas—like energy consumption—where conformity is irrelevant. Thaler has documented the ways people act illogically."—Barbara Kiviat, Time

— Barbara Kiviat

The New York Times Magazine

"A manifesto for using the recent behavioral research to help people, as well as government agencies, companies and charities, make better decisions."—David Leonhardt, The New York Times Magazine

— David Leonhardt

Boston Sunday Globe

"Engaging, enlightening."—George Scialabba, Boston Sunday Globe

— George Scialabba

National Post

"The suggestions in Nudge provide fascinating examples of how tiny changes in context can cue radically different behaviour. Awareness of these cues empowers consumers, voters and decision-makers."—Rebecca Walberg, National Post

— Rebecca Walberg

Boston Globe

"An essential read . . . an entertaining book. . . . The book isn't only humorous, it's loaded with good ideas that financial-service executives, policy makers, Wall Street mavens, and all savers can use."—John F. Wasik, Boston Globe

— John F. Wasik

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780143115267
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 2/24/2009
  • Edition description: Updated
  • Pages: 320
  • Sales rank: 56,828
  • Product dimensions: 5.40 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Richard H. Thaler is the Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics and the director of the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. Cass R. Sunstein  is Karl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Chicago Law School and Departent of Political Science.

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Read an Excerpt

Common "Nudges"

  1. 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.
  2. "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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. "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.
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Table of Contents

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

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 61 )
Rating Distribution

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 62 Customer Reviews

  • Posted June 24, 2010

    eBook does not contain figures as in the print version

    I bought this book for my nook but was disappointed to realize, after reading a few pages, that many of the figures that are present in the print version are not present in the ebook. In place of the figures, there are boxes with a statement saying that rights were not granted for digital media, and "please refer to print version." I thought that the point of buying a nook and ebooks was to, for the most part, replace the print ones. It's an interesting book, but I wouldn't buy the e-version until they have the figures and exact same content as print.
    Barnes and Noble should tell people in advance whether an ebook does not have same content as the print version. Not sure if by not warning people, B&N gives grounds for a class action lawsuit, but it is, at best, unethical not give such warning. Let the buyer beware is not exactly the way to satisfy your customers.

    18 out of 18 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 21, 2011

    do not buy the nook version

    Many important figures are missing. The formatting is very bad, headings are not in bold and spacing is wrong. it does not feel like a book but instead some draft version of the book. Barnes and Noble should not be selling the nook version if they arent able to deliver the e-book experience. very disappointed - dont even consider it.

    10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 30, 2009

    "Nudge"--a leftist fraud manifesto

    The very first page sets the tone--an optical illusion that the authors had to cheat on to convey their point. (Look at the dimensions of the table legs...) Hidden nicely in the authors protestations of being "libertarians" is the unmistakable "we know better than you" leftist agenda. Plus, anyone who yet advocates for anthroprogenic global warming in the face of all of the scientific evidence disproving same illustrates a deficiency of intellect, and severely tarnishes their attempt at a 'scholarly' treatise. Granted there are some interesting points, but on the whole, the piece is fundamentally flawed. What else did they slant to make their argument(s)?

    7 out of 14 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 3, 2009

    Not compelling.

    This was recommended by someone who read the book but I should have read more excerpts before purchasing. I have only gotten through the first 3 CDs and not very motivated to spend the time listening to the remaining cds. The substance is somewhat basic, common sense. I will eventually listen to the remaining CDs and hope the content improves.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 15, 2009

    Must Read

    Must read for anyone interested in public or private policy issues.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 19, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    How We Decide
    The Mind of the Market: How Biology and Psychology Shape Our Economic Lives
    Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
    The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature

    Free-Thinking Enlightenment

    History has proven time-and-again, that paternalism, libertarian or otherwise, will eventually lead to corruption and abuse.

    having said this, I would still recommend this book, and the ideas contained within. To those who appreciate free-thought, as opposed to partisan-bias.

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 2, 2013

    Mirrere

    *Stands*

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  • Posted June 30, 2009

    Nudge

    Interesting book along the lines of The Tipping Point and Blink.

    0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 6, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Good for perspective

    I not only enjoyed the book, but found it's emphasis on making small changes which can make a big difference. Should be required reading for government employees and lawmakers.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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    Posted January 10, 2011

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    Posted June 24, 2009

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