Congratulations to Richard Thaler, who has been awarded the Nobel memorial prize in economics “for his contributions to behavioural economics”. Thaler is a worthy winner. In addition to his academic contributions, alongside the likes of Daniel Kahneman and Robert Shiller, he has been the leading evangelist in the profession for behavioural realism in economics.
Thaler’s influence on policymakers has been unparalleled, in part thanks to his book Nudge (UK) (US) with Cass Sunstein. I wrote a quick appreciation of Thaler for the FT (subscription req.) and this much longer piece a couple of years ago asking what lay in store for behavioural economics.
Here are a few of my favourite behavioural economics books:
Daniel Kahneman Thinking Fast and Slow (UK) (US) – now the bible of behavioural economics, full of fascinating experiments and examples.
Michael Lewis The Undoing Project (UK) (US) – a touching biography of Kahneman and Tversky. Skip the first chapter, but the rest is beautiful storytelling and insightful.
Cass Sunstein and Reid Hastie Wiser (UK) (US) – the best book I know about group decision-making and how to overcoming polarisation and groupthink.
For inside stories of behavioural economics try Thaler’s Misbehaving (UK) (US) and David Halpern’s Inside the Nudge Unit (UK) (US).
And for behavioural science to brighten your day, there’s Think Small (UK) (US) by Halpern’s colleagues Owain Service and Rory Gallagher, or How To Have A Good Day (UK) (US) by Caroline Webb.
Enjoy! And if you’d like a reminder that the old rational choice school of thought has some intriguing insights to contribute, may I (ahem) recommend my second book The Logic of Life (UK) (US).
My new book is “Fifty Inventions That Shaped The Modern Economy”. Grab yourself a copy in the US or in the UK (slightly different title) or through your local bookshop.