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    Book Review: Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein: A manifesto of libertarian paternalism
    Book Review: Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein: A manifesto of libertarian paternalism
    Book Review: Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein: A manifesto of libertarian paternalism
    Ebook28 pages13 minutes

    Book Review: Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein: A manifesto of libertarian paternalism

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    It can be hard for busy professionals to find the time to read the latest books. Stay up to date in a fraction of the time with this concise guide.

    Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness, by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard H. Thaler and the Harvard Law School professor Cass S. Sunstein, advocates libertarian paternalism, an approach by which individuals can be steered to make better decisions without taking away their freedom of choice. According to Thaler and Sunstein, humans are subject to biases and cognitive shortcomings which prevent them from always making the best decisions. By altering the way in which choices are presented, so-called “choice architects” can make people more likely to opt for a particular choice even if everything else in the situation remains the same. The idea of nudges has important applications in public policy, and the book has proved influential in numerous fields, from economics to philosophy.

    This book review and analysis is perfect for: 
    • Students of economics, psychology and politics
    • Anyone who wants to know why we make the choices we do
    • Anyone who is curious about how public policy can shape our behaviour

    About 50MINUTES.COM | BOOK REVIEW
    The Book Review series from the 50Minutes collection is aimed at anyone who is looking to learn from experts in their field without spending hours reading endless pages of information. Our reviews present a concise summary of the main points of each book, as well as providing context, different perspectives and concrete examples to illustrate the key concepts.
    LanguageEnglish
    Publisher50Minutes.com
    Release dateApr 4, 2019
    ISBN9782808017626
    Book Review: Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein: A manifesto of libertarian paternalism

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      Book preview

      Book Review - 50minutes

      NUDGE

      HOW TO IMPROVE INDIVIDUAL DECISION-MAKING WHILST AT THE SAME TIME MAINTAINING FREEDOM OF CHOICE

      Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein want to make your life better by guiding you towards better choices that you would want to make but are not capable of making. They want to do this through libertarian paternalism. Libertarian paternalism offers a way to break with making bad decisions without coercing you into doing something different (this is why it is called libertarian paternalism). Improving the setting in which you make choices (dubbed the ‘choice architecture’) holds the key to ‘nudging’ you into the right direction without changing the incentives associated with pursuing alternative possibilities. You are still capable of choosing whatever you want, but due to different possibilities being presented in different ways you are steered away from the bad choices.

      This might sound paternalistic and it is: ultimately choice architects nudge people to make better choices that will see them being better off in the future as judged by themselves.

      KEY INFORMATION

      Reference edition: Thaler, R. and Sunstein, C. (2009) Nudge: Improving Decisions

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