Misbehaving
Nobel laureate Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans―predictable, error-prone individuals. *Misbehaving* is his arresting, frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth―and change the way we think about economics, ourselves, and our world. Traditional economics assumes rational actors. Early in his research, Thaler realized these Spock-like automatons were nothing like real people. Whether buying a clock radio, selling basketball tickets, or applying for a mortgage, we all succumb to biases and make decisions that deviate from the standards of rationality assumed by economists. In other words, we misbehave. More importantly, our misbehavior has serious consequences. Dismissed at first by economists as an amusing sideshow, the study of human miscalculations and their effects on markets now drives efforts to make better decisions in our lives, our businesses, and our governments. Coupling recent discoveries in human psychology with a practical understanding of incentives and market behavior, Thaler enlightens readers about how to make smarter decision
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Thaler tells the story of his career building behavioral economics from a fringe joke into a Nobel-winning field, with the people, papers, and arguments along the way, ending in his work on choice architecture.
Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics was written by Richard Thaler and published in 2015. Thaler won the 2017 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He also co-wrote Nudge with Cass Sunstein.
No. Misbehaving is a personal history of behavioral economics as a field; Nudge is a more applied book about choice architecture. The two complement each other, with Misbehaving giving the academic story behind Nudge's ideas.
Misbehaving is 432 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Misbehaving takes most readers 6 to 9 hours to finish.
Misbehaving is a standalone novel by Richard H. Thaler, not part of a series.
Misbehaving is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
