Behavioral Economics

When Psychology and Economics Collide

By: Scott Huettel, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Scott Huettel

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

Behavioral economics is the study of decision making, and of the related themes of valuation, exchange, and interpersonal interactions. Using methods from psychology, sociology, neurology, and economics, behavioral economics sheds light one of the most fundamental activities of human life:the decision process. In 24 insightful lectures, you'll learn how behavioral economists look at decision making and explore a set of key principles that offer deep insight into how we evaluate information and integrate different factors to make decisions. Most important, using real-life illustrations and case studies, each lecture offers practical tools, so that you can understand the patterns of decision making, the purposes they serve, and how to use your knowledge to make better and more satisfying decisions.

In grasping the underlying factors in decision making, you'll explore key topics such as decisions regarding probability, time-related decisions, managing risk, high-stakes medical decisions, and group decision making. Professor Huettel illustrates each concept with meaningful examples, analogies, and case studies, relating the material directly to the decisions all of us make as a central part of living. This unique course gives you essential knowledge and insights for one of life's most important skills.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2014 The Great Courses (P)2014 The Teaching Company, LLC

Recommended for

if you have already read thinking fast and slow then don't bother. You don't need to read this.

however if not, go for it. The course has same content but a short version of it. I really like he starts with chapter title and summarize at the end. I wish the stories were more interesting.

Stating the Obvious

This course lists a lot of behavioral ideas we know but don't know we know, in excellent examples and words. Stimulating.

Clear and effective

Great course! Clear, well structured, most useful.
The best way to teach is to stimulate the other own thought!
Glad I got this book. Only regret that it wasn't earlier...
Thanks Professor Huettel!

Excellent coverage of material, but a bit dry

The same material is covered in a much more entertaining way by reading some of the source material. Specifically, The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis covers the work of Kahneman and Tversky, while Thaler's own work is covered in Misbehaving.

Great to understand how we make decisions

This is a great exploration of how we make decisions, understand value and how to use those same concepts to make better decisions.

Good and bad

Low production value and subpar voice-over balanced out by excellent writing and very interesting copy.

Love the topic

Would you listen to Behavioral Economics again? Why?

Would for sure- the topic is very interesting to me (intersection of economics and psychology).

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It'd be tough

Any additional comments?

Its a good lecture- give it a go if you have any interest in the topic

The Unknown Unknowns

Merriam-Webster defines economics as "a social science concerned chiefly with description and analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services." Theories and concepts are dense and often mystifyingly complex - see, for example, Thomas Piketty "Capital in the 21st Century" (2013).

Sometimes economics don't make monetary sense - and that's where Behavioral Economics comes in. Scott Huettel, PhD's "The Great Courses: Behavioral Economics: When Psychology and Economics Collide" (2013) is a series of 24 lectures, about half an hour each, on that fascinating subject. Huettel explains why money really isn't everything, especially when what seems 'rational' about spending doesn't override people's social behaviors. For example, it might be more important to punish a cheater or thief even if it costs the person meting out the punishment more money and time than it would have to walk away - see Lecture 2. As a litigator, I see this in action all the time - and benefit from it, quite frankly - but until I listened to Huettel's lectures, I wasn't sure why it was happening.

Because of Lecture 15, "The Value of Experience" I discovered why something I've thought for a long time was true: it's not the things that you buy but the things that you do that make a difference. A week ago, I was in Florida, traveling with a group and not quite on vacation. The airboats and alligators of "Wild Florida" were close, and, armed with the knowledge that we were going to remember the experience forever - and the psychology of why - I happily talked the group into going. I realized that the class helped me feel more confident about my own economic decisions.

Huettel's course is great listen for fans of Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions" (2008).

The title of the review is from one of the lectures. It turns out that "known unknowns" and "unknown unknowns" make sense in Behavioral Economics, even if they don't for Donald Rumsfeld.

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Great introductory primer to behavioral economics

Very approachable. Concept rich text broken up into topical lectures. Left off on the topic of "nudge" and will be the follow on book that I download: Nudge.

brilliant, perhaps, but definitely boring

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I loved the concepts and empirical work. I simply couldn't listen for more than about 15-20 minutes. Since I was driving I couldn't risk falling asleep.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Behavioral Economics?

The number of times he was able to illustrate that pop psychological notions about human behavior often couldn't be farther from the facts of the matter.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

His voice is essentially monotone, but he has a bit too much of self-importance (perhaps?). the fake clapping at the end of a chapter was over the top (and led me to the sense of his excessive self-importance--really, who needs fake clapping in a studio recording???).

Did Behavioral Economics inspire you to do anything?

Yes, question assumtions about motives and motivations.

Quite interesting, but perhaps drawn out too much

This course covers the (relatively modern) field of behavioural economics, which is the study of how psychological and neurological effects impact on decision making. Starting with Prospect Theory, the first major theory of behavioural economics, Prof. Huettel outlines a wealth of experiments that display a huge range of counter intuitive effects that the brain has on decision making.

To get the most out of this course I would suggest people have at least a basic knowledge of classical economics, e.g. the great courses intro to economics, since this gives a much better context for why this field is so important and can have such wide reaching implications.

Many aspects of decision making biases are discussed, for example, how framing a question differently can completely change how we react to it. At each stage the professor suggests ways in which understanding these biases can actually lead you to make better decisions in your life, and I will certainly be using some of the tricks he suggests. For example, paying someone to do something that they used to do for free can undermine their incentive for doing it, e.g. paying for blood donations tends to decrease numbers of donated pints!

Whilst the course was very interesting, and I will be following up with one of the courses on psychology, I think the length is unnecessarily long. Sometimes the points made didn't need nearly as much time as they did, and it felt like a chore to get through a couple of the lectures.

Overall, worth a listen, some very interesting facts and experiments, but only worth it if you are particularly interested, and have some background knowledge already.

Covers some very interesting topics.

Any additional comments?

I think it is fair to say that every lecture in the series contained some interesting elements, though the last few were by far the most interesting in my opinion.
I learned a lot and the course has left me with a lot to think about.

Good but could have been better

Very interesting but a bit monotonous tone of voice, particularly because of the length of the reading that makes it heavy to assimilate after some time of listening. Otherwise very good and educational.

Not my favourite

I have purchaed a number of courses both from Audible and directly through Great courses mostly I have really enjoyed them and found them instructive. However this one is a bit simplistic. It may be useful for someone with any prior knowledgeof Economics or psychology.

Good introduction to behavioural economics

A good introduction, easy to understand and follow and relatable with plenty of real life examples

decent but not great

Didn't find the narration that engaging and the content is geenrally interesting but I didn't feel hugely insightful.

Nothing much new!

I haven't read much Economics: listened to 2 books on investment and read 1 book over my lifetime. Yet I found this course so depleted of original material. With my limited knowledge, I knew 95% of the materials, even the examples were not new! So unfortunately this was a total waste of money and time for me. One might benefit from it if it's their first exposure to economics.

Excellent course on the topic!

Clearly explained the topic with no excesses or deviations. A great basis to start with and also to put behavioral economics concepts into context. Highly recommend!

Fantastic Overview

Fantastic overview of behavioural economics that captures essence of how human decision making is being deciphered, how good decisions can be made and how those with the knowledge of these principles do manipulate our decisions on a daily basis as we consume services and products.

another great course

really interesting listen with lots of great examples and knowledge to take away. highly recommend!