Short description
Thaler and Sunstein offer a groundbreaking discussion of how to apply the science of choice to nudge people toward decisions that can improve their lives.
Long description
Every day we make decisions on topics ranging from the personal investments we select to the schools we pick for our children to the foods we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, as authors Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein astutely observe, we don't always choose well. The reason, the authors explain, is that we all are susceptible to cognitive biases and blunders that make us human, fallible, and prone to error.Thaler and Sunstein invite us to enter an alternative world, one that recognizes our humanness as a given. They show that the way we think can be used to our advantage: it is possible to design environments that make it more likely for us to act in our own interests. Using colourful examples from all aspects of life, Thaler and Sunstein demonstrate how 'choice architecture' can be established to nudge us in beneficial directions without restricting the full menu of choices available to us. Nudge offers a unique new take, from neither the left nor the right, on many current issues, and is one of the most engaging and provocative books to come along in years.
Review
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 Boston Globe (07/22/2008)