Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics

Description

Misbehaving is Richard H Thaler s arresting frequently hilarious account of his struggle to bring economics back down to earth and transform the way we think about ourselves and our world Coupling recent discoveries in human psychology with a practical understanding of incentives and market behavior this founding father of behavioral economics Chicago Tribune opens up new ways to look at everything from household finance to TV game shows the NFL draft and businesses like Uber Misbehaving reveals how the study of human miscalculations can help us make smarter decisions in our lives our businesses and our governments Book jacket Richard H Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans predictable error prone individuals Misbehaving is his arresting frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth and change the way we think about economics ourselves and our world Traditional economics assumes rational actors Early in his research Thaler realized these Spock like automatons were nothing like real people Whether buying a clock radio selling basketball tickets or applying for a mortgage we all succumb to biases and make decisions that deviate from the standards of rationality assumed by economists In other words we misbehave More importantly our misbehavior has serious consequences Dismissed at first by economists as an amusing sideshow the study of human miscalculations and their effects on markets now drives efforts to make better decisions in our lives our businesses and our governments Coupling recent discoveries in human psychology with a practical understanding of incentives and market behavior Thaler enlightens readers about how to make smarter decisions in an increasingly mystifying world He reveals how behavioral economic analysis opens up new ways to look at everything from household finance to assigning faculty offi