Nudge

Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness [Expanded Edition]

By: Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Every day, we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. The reason, the authors explain, is that, being human, we are all susceptible to various biases that can lead us to blunder.

Our mistakes make us poorer and less healthy; we often make bad decisions involving education, personal finance, health care, mortgages and credit cards, the family, and even the planet itself.

Thaler and Sunstein invite us to enter an alternative world, one that takes our humanness as a given. They show that by knowing how people think, we can design choice environments that make it easier for people to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their society.

Using colorful examples from the most important aspects of life, Thaler and Sunstein demonstrate how thoughtful "choice architecture" can be established to nudge us in beneficial directions without restricting freedom of choice. Nudge offers a unique new take - from neither the left nor the right - on many hot-button issues, for individuals and governments alike. This is one of the most engaging and provocative audiobooks to come along in many years.

Included in this recording are a bonus chapter and a Postscript that was added in the paperback edition.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2009 Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein (P)2009 Gildan Media Corp

Abandoned halfway through

I like Thaler and Sunstein generally, and the content is important, but it didn't hold my attention and eventually I gave up.

Not a good audio book

Although the premise of this book is interesting, I would strongly recommend against listening to this on audio. It is hard to follow and dry, it made for a boring and laborious audiobook. That being said, the topics discussed and examined in this book are important, so I encourage anyone who wants to read to buy a physical copy instead.

Practical behavioral economics

Thaler and Sunstein offer depth and humor in this broad overview of how subtle little changes can produce tremendous outcomes. Making this required learning for business owners and government officials would do us all a world of good.

Enlightening your perspectives

Would you listen to Nudge again? Why?

Nudge is another building block to the field of behavioral analysis that allows you to think about your reactions to everyday scnarios. Like learning a language, it is all about repetition.

Would you be willing to try another book from Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein ? Why or why not?

Yes, I think the examples are clear and real and the viewpoints are backed by other notable researchers in the field. They all seem to have a mutual respect for each other.

Which scene was your favorite?

Top Nudges make you think.

Any additional comments?

Interesting, will revisit again.

Awesome read!

Loved the insights and explanations. Very well thought out ideas. I would definitely recommend this book. Good narration.

Great, but missed the mark on education...

The research is impressive and its applications even better. But I think the authors should have stayed out of education policy if they are not going to discuss the validity (or lack thereof) of standard testing. Also, Thaler deserves much credit for developing the theory behind nudges, but the authors talk as if they invented them, which they did not. They have been used extensively in the private sector in contracts and advertisement. There is some discussion on that, but I expected more.

Slow “book” with great, dense content

This is an economics-based book, which isn’t the most exciting subject to begin with. However, it is well worth the listen! Take your time, as the content is dense and much to learn.

Libertarian Socialism

The author, Dr. Richard Thaler, won a Nobel Prize recently for his work, which is outlined in this book. He labeled his School of Thought as ‘Libertarian Paternalism’ in that his models for economic behavior protect choice, hence ‘libertarian,’ and that there’s a ‘father-knows-best’ attitude in protecting people from their own irrational selves, hence ‘paternalism.’ The big new idea here is that markets are irrational. Throughout most of the 20th Century, economists marveled at the successes of the free market and assigned these successes to individuals making rational choices in the marketplace, or ‘acting in their own best interest.’ This ‘self-interest’ was a loathed, but rational mechanism that, when spread over millions of private decisions, by millions of people, each acting prudently, an invisible hand crystallized to steer society in the best direction. Oddly, Dr. Thaler doesn’t dispute the superior overall results of a free market system, but he attempts to discredit it nonetheless.

I believe Dr. Thaler discovered what we already know: human beings make poor long-term decisions in favor of instant gratification. In nearly all the book’s examples, human choices appeared flawed when the consequences of those choices were delayed in the future. The time component confused our decision-making. If a child chooses cake over an avocado & turkey sandwich, that decision is deemed ‘irrational.’ When faced with labyrinthine health care plans, where the services, quality and actual medical costs all occur in the future, people seemed to make ‘irrational’ choices. The overarching principle for ‘Nudge Theory’ is that if academics design better menus, then people can make better choices for long-term decisions.

But I must say, Dr. Thaler hasn’t debunked the basic rationality of the free market. To this day, regular people make highly rational decisions in the marketplace when long term effects aren’t the only concern. If I want to buy a house, and there are two competing homes, one costs $200,000 and the other costs $220,000. If there is nothing to justify the extra $20,000 in the second home, then I’ll buy the first home. This Principle of Substitution lets me compare options and prices and allows me to act prudently and in my best interest. These basic value decisions occur constantly and drive the market. Whether I can afford the house or whether I bought it right before the housing market collapsed is where you’ll find Dr. Thaler shaking his head in academic frustration.

One thing about Dr. Thaler that must be commended at all costs, is that he is a problem solver. Many books exalt themselves in their criticism of the world as it is, but here, the esteemed economist focuses his time and energy in providing measurable solutions. When I read, I want to hear solutions. Tell me how to make the world better. Whether or not Dr. Thaler is on the right track can and should be debated. But the fact that he’s out there, boldly presenting his ideas to the world is what counts. I like the idea of nudging for some investment security and I like the idea of nudging where safety is concerned. Beyond that, nudging serves the nudgee’s preconceived notions of ‘the good’ for the individual and for society.

Boring and repetitive

When I picked this book, I was very enthusiastice. However, after going through the first few chapters I found the book rather repetitive. It goes on-and-on on US healthcare policies and 401K. Large sections of the book is particularly irrelevant and boring if the reader is outside of the US.

Ugh libertarian

Super libertarian. I found flaws in a few ideas. The title is kinda misleading. It’s more about how things could be different if the world was different.