Book Summary and Reviews of Nudge by Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein

Nudge by Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein

Nudge

by Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein

  • Published:
  • Aug 2021, 384 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Since the original publication of Nudge more than a decade ago, the title has entered the vocabulary of businesspeople, policy makers, engaged citizens, and consumers everywhere.

The book has given rise to more than 400 "nudge units" in governments around the world and countless groups of behavioral scientists in every part of the economy. It has taught us how to use thoughtful "choice architecture"—a concept the authors invented—to help us make better decisions for ourselves, our families, and our society.

Now, the authors have rewritten the book from cover to cover, making use of their experiences in and out of government over the past dozen years as well as an explosion of new research in numerous academic disciplines. To commit themselves to never undertaking this daunting task again, they are calling this the "final edition." It offers a wealth of new insights, for both its avowed fans and newcomers to the field, about a wide variety of issues that we face in our daily lives—COVID-19, health, personal finance, retirement savings, credit card debt, home mortgages, medical care, organ donation, climate change, and "sludge" (paperwork and other nuisances we don't want, and that keep us from getting what we do want)—all while honoring one of the cardinal rules of nudging: make it fun!

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"In the spirit of Donald Norman's The Design of Everyday Things ... Thaler and Sunstein deliver a spirited argument to enable well-informed people to overcome various biases and 'probabilistic harms' to do what is best for them and, in the present case, their fellow 'American Humans.' ... Students of design, politics, economics, and many other fields will delight in these provocative discussions." ―Kirkus Reviews

"Few books can be said to have changed the world, but Nudge did. The Final Edition is marvelous: funny, useful, and wise." ―Daniel Kahneman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow

"If you've read Nudge and think you fully grasp the concept and its uses, you are mistaken. The new edition significantly deepened my understanding of what nudges are and how they can be employed. It truly is a must-read." ―Robert Cialdini, New York Times bestselling author of Influence

This information about Nudge was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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More Information

Richard H. Thaler was awarded the 2017 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to the field of behavioral economics. He is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is a member of the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2015 he was the president of the American Economic Association. He has been published in numerous prominent journals and is the author of Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics.

Cass R. Sunstein is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School, where he is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy. From 2009 to 2012 he served in the Obama administration as administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, from 2020 to 2021 he served as chair of the Technical Advisory Group for Behavioral Insights and Health at the World Health Organization, and in 2021 he joined the Biden administration as senior counselor and regulatory policy officer in the Department of Homeland Security. His many books include Impeachment: A Citizen's Guide, Too Much Information, and, with Daniel Kahneman and Olivier Sibony, Noise. He is the recipient of the 2018 Holberg Prize, awarded annually to a scholar who has made outstanding contributions to research in the arts, humanities, social sciences, law, or theology.

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