'Nudge' by Thaler & Sunstein
Economics is reputed as a 'dry' subject, even though interest in the field of economics has been increasing by leaps and bounds over the last couple of decades. The newfound interest (one indicator being: cut off for Economics courses for Undergraduate course admissions at most Indian universities is at high 90s, something of a marvel to those who grew up in an era when Humanities courses were relegated to 'also rans'!) seems based on the realization that Economics touches every aspect of our lives.
Still the 'dryness' of Economics as a subject persists, mainly driven by the idealistic formulations of classical economics (and economists!), much of which was disjointed from social reality as it operated on the ground. It's here that Behavioral Economists like Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, his late collaborator Amos Tversky, and later Richard Thaler have tried to make a real contribution, towards making Economics more of a 'human' subject and bring it down to the level of the common folk. In fact, Thaler and Cass Sunstein, the authors of 'Nudge', make a distinction between 'Econs', the fictional, idealistic characters who follow all rules of Economics to a T, and 'Humans', the real world folk.
'Nudge', while overtly concerned with the incentives for economic and social actions (and how those can be 'nudged' towards more sensible decisions, with simple actions/measures), do a huge service to the cause of popularizing Economics as a whole. They explain how 'human' decision making - in myriad areas from joining retirement plans to taking on home loans to using credit cards to buying medicines - actually works, and point to how common people can be 'nudged' to take more sensible decisions in all these areas, without even trying to understand the complex workings of economic models.
Anyone having even a nodding interest in not only economics and sociology, but in human behavior in general, would find immense value out of this book. Happy Reading!
