libertarian paternalism Concepts

Why Nudge?: The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism

by Cass R. Sunstein · 25 Mar 2014 · 168pp · 46,194 words

STORRS LECTURES ON JURISPRUDENCE Yale Law School, 2012 Cass R. Sunstein Why Nudge? The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism Published with assistance from the foundation established in memory of Amasa Stone Mather of the Class of 1907, Yale College. Copyright © 2014 by Cass R.

…

Integrated Publishing Solutions. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sunstein, Cass R. Why nudge? : the politics of libertarian paternalism / Cass R. Sunstein. pages cm.—(Storrs lectures on jurisprudence) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-300-19786-0 (hardback) 1. Paternalism—Political aspects

…

count. A jail sentence and a fine count as hard paternalism, whereas a disclosure policy, a warning, and a default rule count as soft or libertarian paternalism. Some forms of paternalism impose material costs, such as fines, on people’s choices in order to improve their welfare. Other forms impose affective or

…

than hard paternalism.48 Means paternalism can be hard or soft, and the same is true of ends paternalism. My topic here extends far beyond libertarian paternalism and nudges, understood as approaches that affect choices without coercion, but it is important to see that nudges generally fall in the categories of means

…

explores autonomy and the objection that paternalism is an insult to people’s right to choose. Chapter 5 discusses several independent objections to soft or libertarian paternalism, particularly those that emphasize the potential lack of transparency, the risk of manipulation, and the limits of the easy reversibility that soft paternalists prize. ONE

…

a careful and illuminating book, one that is sharply critical of paternalism in any form, Riccardo Rebonato offers a provocative and different definition of libertarian paternalism, or nudges: Libertarian paternalism is the set of interventions aimed at overcoming the unavoidable cognitive biases and decisional inadequacies of an individual by exploiting them in such a

…

made an active choice in favor of active choosing. Those who prefer active choosing are not avoiding nudges; they are nudging. They are not avoiding libertarian paternalism; they are engaging in it. But even if this is so, active choosing will be found congenial to those who emphasize both learning and liberty

…

anything insulting or demeaning about automatic enrollment in savings and health care plans, accompanied by unconstrained opt-out rights? Which nudges, and which forms of libertarian paternalism, interfere with autonomy, rightly understood? Surely disclosure policies are not an objectionable interference with autonomy; a GPS does not compromise liberty. Does government really treat

…

is vigorously defended in SARAH CONLY, AGAINST AUTONOMY: JUSTIFYING COERCIVE PATERNALISM (2012). Negative answers are defended in RICCARDO REBONATO, TAKING LIBERTIES: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF LIBERTARIAN PATERNALISM (2012); Edward L. Glaeser, Paternalism and Psychology, 73 U. CHI. L. REV. 133 (2006); and Joshua D. Wright & Douglas H. Ginsburg, Behavioral Law and Economics

…

market paper, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, October 26, 2012), http://www.princeton.edu/~homonoff/THomonoff_JobMarketPaper. 9. RICCARDO REBONATO, TAKING LIBERTIES: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF LIBERTARIAN PATERNALISM (2012). 10. See Lawrence Lessig, The Regulation of Social Meaning, 62 U. CHI. L. REV. 943 (1995). 11. MILL, supra note 3. 12. See Sunit

…

: Its Origins, Fatal Flaws, and Implications for Liberty, 106 NW. U. L. REV. 1033 (2012); on the underlying issues, see Bruce Ian Carlin et al., Libertarian Paternalism, Information Production, and Financial Decision-Making (June 6, 2012) (unpublished manuscript), http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~sgervais/Research/Papers/LibertarianPaternalism.WP.pdf. 6. MILL, supra

…

/common/briefing/Senate_legislative_process.htm (last visited Dec. 5, 2012). FOUR Paternalism and Autonomy 1. See Riccardo Rebonato, Taking Liberties: A Critical Examination of Libertarian Paternalism (2012); Joshua D. Wright & Douglas H. Ginsburg, Behavioral Law and Economics: Its Origins, Fatal Flaws, and Implications for Liberty, 106 Nw. U. L. Rev. 1033

…

setting—but that they were less likely to change a smaller reduction (one-degree C). 11. See Riccardo Rebonato, Taking Liberties: A Critical Examination of Libertarian Paternalism (2012). 12. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty 8 (Kathy Casey ed., 2002) (1859). 13. Antonio R. Damasio, Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain

Fixed: Why Personal Finance is Broken and How to Make it Work for Everyone

by John Y. Campbell and Tarun Ramadorai · 25 Jul 2025

the default achieve a reasonable outcome. Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, who named the approach in their 2008 book Nudge, describe the underlying philosophy as “libertarian paternalism”: paternalism because the government picks a choice it believes to be good for people, but libertarian because people are free to reject the government’s

…

useful guidance from manipulative and misleading advertising—that is, to tell nudge from sludge.36 The moral of the story is that the promise of libertarian paternalism, that households can be helped without restricting their choices or changing the prices they face, is too good to be true. In a toxic information

…

financial systems, 202 legal system to protect investors, 202 Lemonade, 182 lenders, matching with borrowers, 242–243 Levine, Phillip, 208–209 Liang, Kevin, 272–273n26 libertarian paternalism (“nudge”), 211–215 life expectancy: amount need to save for retirement and, 159; annuities and, 169–170; retirement and increase in, 150–151 life insurance

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein · 7 Apr 2008 · 304pp · 22,886 words

Carolyn must choose a particular arrangement of the food options at lunch, and by so doing she can influence what people eat. She can nudge.* Libertarian Paternalism If, all things considered, you think that Carolyn should take the opportunity to nudge the kids toward food that is better for them, Option 1

…

, then we welcome you to our new movement: libertarian paternalism. We are keenly aware that this term is not one that readers will find immediately endearing. Both words are somewhat off-putting, weighted down by

…

bad decisions—decisions they would not have made if they had paid full attention and possessed complete information, unlimited cognitive abilities, and complete self-control. Libertarian paternalism is a relatively weak, soft, and nonintrusive type of paternalism because choices are not blocked, fenced off, or significantly burdened. If people want to smoke

…

benefit from environmental nudges, helping to reduce air pollution (and the emission of greenhouse gases). But as we shall show, the same points that justify libertarian paternalism on the part of private institutions apply to government as well. Humans and Econs: Why Nudges Can Help Those who reject paternalism often claim that

…

now being done. A New Path We shall have a great deal to say about private nudges. But many of the most important applications of libertarian paternalism are for government, and we will offer a number of recommendations for public policy and law. Our hope is that that those recommendations might appeal

…

to both sides of the political divide. Indeed, we believe that the policies suggested by libertarian paternalism can be embraced by Republicans and Democrats alike. A central reason is that many of those policies cost little or nothing; they impose no burden

…

agree that freedom of choice is a good and even indispensable foundation for public policy. There is a real basis here for crossing partisan divides. Libertarian paternalism, we think, is a promising foundation for bipartisanship. In many domains, including environmental protection, family law, and school choice, we will be arguing that better

…

government, just for better governance. Actually we have evidence that our optimism (which we admit may be a bias) is more than just rosy thinking. Libertarian paternalism with respect to savings, discussed in Chapter 6, has received enthusiastic and widespread bipartisan support in Congress, including from current and former conservative Republican senators

…

were quietly enacted into law. The new law will help many Americans have more comfortable retirements but costs essentially nothing in taxpayer dollars. In short, libertarian paternalism is neither left nor right, neither Democratic nor Republican. In many areas, the most thoughtful Democrats are going beyond their enthusiasm for choice-eliminating programs

…

our nudges do, in a sense, impose cognitive (rather than material) costs, and in that sense alter incentives. Nudges count as such, and qualify as libertarian paternalism, only if any costs are low. PART I HUMANS AND ECONS BIASES AND BLUNDERS Have a look, if you will, at these two tables: 1

…

. In extreme cases, governments might ban some items (such as heroin use, prostitution, and drunken driving). Such bans can be seen as pure rather than libertarian paternalism, though third-party interests are also at stake. In other cases, individuals may prefer a less intrusive role for the government. For example, smokers might

…

best response? Choice architecture and its effects cannot be avoided, and so the short answer is an obvious one, call it the golden rule of libertarian paternalism: offer nudges that are most likely to help and least likely to inflict harm.* A slightly longer answer is that people will need nudges for

…

.* None of this is to say that the government should be telling people whom to marry or what to study. This is a book about libertarian paternalism. At this stage we just want to stress that rare, difficult choices are good candidates for nudges. Feedback Even practice does not make perfect if

…

auto insurance policies, just to name a few. For these and related domains, we propose a very mild form of government regulation, a species of libertarian paternalism that we call RECAP: Record, Evaluate, and Compare Alternative Prices. Here is how RECAP would work in the cell phone market. The government would not

…

. Although we see some merit in this proposal, and are sympathetic with the goal of making shopping easier, Wilkins’s proposal does not qualify as libertarian paternalism because it prohibits contracts that may be mutually beneficial. Variable-rate mortgages, even with teaser rates, are not inherently bad. For those who are planning

…

new account can be opened using one of the solicitations that arrive almost daily in the mail announcing that you have been “pre-approved.” Can libertarian paternalism help? As with mortgages, we think this is a perfect area for RECAP. We suggest that credit card companies should be required to send an

…

do a good job of choosing portfolios on their own. Option A is hardly a nudge. It eliminates all choice, and so is inconsistent with libertarian paternalism. We don’t recommend it. At the other extreme, plan designers could avoid picking a default fund entirely by forcing everyone to choose a portfolio

…

choose, the government set minimum coverage requirements and approved all private plans. This system of constrained free choice might seem like a nice example of libertarian paternalism in action. And in fact, we think that on some dimensions Bush was on the right track. As a health care delivery system, Part D

…

some behavioral elaborations below that incorporate the fact that agents in the economy are Humans.) Furthermore, we think that this basic approach is compatible with libertarian paternalism because people can avoid paying the tax by not creating pollution. Especially when compared with command-and-control systems, economic incentives have a strong libertarian

…

wrongdoing— such as assault and battery—raise special considerations that we do not discuss here. 15 PRIVATIZING MARRIAGE We are hoping that the idea of libertarian paternalism will offer some new ways of thinking about many old problems. We now turn to the very old institution of marriage, and explore some of

…

absent parents provide financial help for their children. When a child’s interests are involved, mandates are perfectly appropriate. Society can and does go beyond libertarian paternalism to make so-called deadbeat dads pay child support. Those who favor nudges might just add that some simple tools might help. Consider, for example

…

to us weakest, and then turn to those that raise more complicated issues. The Slippery Slope It is tempting to worry that those who embrace libertarian paternalism are starting down an alarmingly slippery slope. Skeptics might fear that once we accept modest paternalism for savings or cafeteria lines or environmental protection, highly

…

disappear quickly is long gone by the time the customer gets the bad news. The editors of the Economist, in a largely sympathetic treatment of libertarian paternalism, offered this cautionary note: “From the point of view of liberty, there is a serious danger of overreach, and therefore grounds for caution. Politicians, after

…

DRIVE;” “DRUGS KILL” or “SUPPORT YOUR PRESIDENT,;” “ABORTION IS MURDER” or “BUY 10 COPIES OF NUDGE.” Can subliminal advertising be seen as a form of libertarian paternalism? After all, it steers people’s choices, but it does not make their decisions for them. So do we embrace subliminal advertising—so long as

…

it is in the interest of desirable ends? What limits should be placed on private or public manipulation as such? A general objection to libertarian paternalism, and to certain kinds of nudges, might be that they are insidious—that they empower government to maneuver people in its preferred directions, and at

…

probably a good idea (especially if politicians have to report donations from insurance companies). Why Stop at Libertarian Paternalism? We hope that conservatives, moderates, liberals, self-identified libertarians, and many others might be able to endorse libertarian paternalism. So far we have emphasized the criticisms of certain conservatives and the most ardent libertarians. A

…

the opposite direction. Enthusiastic paternalists might well feel emboldened by evidence of Human frailties. So emboldened, they might urge that in many domains, nudging and libertarian paternalism are much too modest and cautious. If we want to protect people, why not go further? In some circumstances, wouldn’t people’s lives go

…

best if we took away freedom of choice? The truth, of course, is that there are no hard-and-fast stopping points. We have defined libertarian paternalism to include actions, rules, and other nudges that can be easily avoided by opting out. We do not have a clear definition of “easily avoided

…

principle is that we should design policies that help the least sophisticated people in society while imposing the smallest possible costs on the most sophisticated. (Libertarian paternalism is a form of asymmetric paternalism in which the costs imposed on the sophisticated are kept close to zero.) A simple example of asymmetric paternalism

…

resist going further down the paternalistic path. What are the grounds for our resistance? After all, we have already granted that the costs imposed by libertarian paternalism may not be zero, so it would be disingenuous for us to say that we always and strongly object to regulations that raise the costs

…

of any kind. We agree that long-standing traditions may be quite sensible, but we do not believe that traditionalists have a good objection to libertarian paternalism. Social practices, and the laws that reflect them, often persist not because they are wise but because Humans, often suffering from self-control problems, are

…

do not see them. Choice architecture, both good and bad, is pervasive and unavoidable, and it greatly affects our decisions. The second claim is that libertarian paternalism is not an oxymoron. Choice architects can preserve freedom of choice while also nudging people in directions that will improve their lives. We have covered

…

purely private action. Workplaces, corporate boards, universities, religious organizations, clubs, and even families might be able to use, and to benefit from, small exercises in libertarian paternalism. With respect to government, we hope that the general approach might serve as a viable middle ground in our unnecessarily polarized society. The twentieth century

…

was pervaded by a great deal of artificial talk about the possibility of a “Third Way.” We are hopeful that libertarian paternalism offers a real Third Way—one that can break through some of the least tractable debates in contemporary democracies. Ever since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s

…

R., David Schkade, Lisa Ellman, and Andres Sawicki. Are Judges Political? Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2006. Sunstein, Cass R., and Richard H. Thaler. “Libertarian Paternalism Is Not an Oxymoron.” University of Chicago Law Review 70 (2003): 1159–1202. Sunstein, Cass R., and Edna Ullman-Margalit. “Second-Order Decisions.” Ethics 110

…

., and Hersh M. Shefrin. “An Economic Theory of Self-Control.” Journal of Political Economy 89 (1981): 392–406. Thaler, Richard H., and Cass R. Sunstein. “Libertarian Paternalism.” American Economic Review 93, no. 2 (2003): 175–79. Thompson, Dennis F. Political Ethics and Public Office. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987. Tierney, John. “Magic

…

Gateway Arch, St. Louis Germany, organ donations in Gilovich, Tom Give More Tomorrow Goldstein, Dan Goolsbee, Austan Gore, Al Gould, Stephen Jay government: distrust of, libertarian paternalism of, neutrality in, paternalism of, and RECAP, and retirement plans, and slippery slope, starting points provided by, transparency in government bonds greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse

…

, John kidney transplants Kieboom, Aad Koehler, Jay Kurtz, Sheldon Kyoto Protocol Labor Department, U.S., and retirement plans Lay, Kenneth lemmings Leslie, Phillip Lewin, Kurt libertarian paternalism, arguments against, see counterarguments; golden rule of, of government, in health care, and marriage, in politics, as Third Way, why stop there? life expectancy “lifestyle

…

Pension Protection Act (2006) pensions, see retirement plans pesticides, warnings about Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona Planners planning fallacy pluralistic ignorance politics: brand switching in, libertarian paternalism in, predictions in, private-sector interests in, probability of voting, Third Way in, voting patterns pollution popcorn portfolio theory postcompletion errors practice, and feedback preferences

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics

by Richard H. Thaler · 10 May 2015 · 500pp · 145,005 words

it must be some different variety of paternalism. Struggling for the right words, I blurted out: “Maybe we should call it, I don’t know, libertarian paternalism.” I made a mental note to discuss this new phrase with Cass Sunstein the next time I saw him. ________________ * Economic theory does predict that the

…

level through various other rulings, but the initial anchor stuck. 32 Going Public When I next saw Cass, I told him about my new term, “libertarian paternalism.” The phrase was not beautiful, but he had to admit it was more constructive than his term, “anti-anti-paternalism,” and he was intrigued. The

…

sessions at the meeting on behavioral topics and invited a session on paternalism. Cass and I wrote a short paper that introduced the idea of libertarian paternalism. With the five published pages we were allotted, Cass was barely getting warmed up, so he took that piece and developed it into a proper

…

law review article, over forty pages. We called it “Libertarian Paternalism Is Not an Oxymoron.” When I printed a draft of the law review version of the paper it looked quite long to me. One day

…

before and after the fact, without explicitly forcing anyone to do anything? In other words, what can we achieve by limiting ourselves to libertarian paternalism? We knew that the phrase “libertarian paternalism” would raise some hackles. It is not just at the University of Chicago that people dislike the term “paternalism”; many object to

…

the government, or anyone else for that matter, telling them what to do, and that is what the term normally means. The phrase “libertarian paternalism” is a mouthful, and it does sound like an oxymoron. But it is not; at least not the way we define the terms. By paternalism

…

. We use the word “libertarian” as an adjective to mean trying to help in this way but without restricting choices.* Although we like the term “libertarian paternalism” and can defend its logic, it is safe to say it would never have worked as a book title. That problem was solved when an

…

with Humans, words matter. ________________ * While we thought the term was perfectly logical, not everyone agreed. One law professor wrote a comment on our paper titled “Libertarian Paternalism Is an Oxymoron” (Mitchell, 2005). I wanted to post a reply online that would have no text; it would only consist of the three-word

…

. 1212. 323 “cautious paternalism”; “optimal paternalism”: O’Donoghue and Rabin (1999, 2003). 323 Cass and I wrote a short paper: Thaler and Sunstein (2003). 323 “Libertarian Paternalism is Not an Oxymoron”: Sunstein and Thaler (2003). 325 paperback rights were later sold to trade publishers: Thaler and Sunstein (2008). 326 The Design of

…

Zayas, et al. 2010. “‘Willpower’ over the Life Span: Decomposing Self-Regulation.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 6, no. 2: 252–6. Mitchell, Gregory. 2005. “Libertarian Paternalism Is an Oxymoron.” Northwestern University Law Review 99, no. 3: 1245–77. Modigliani, Franco, and Richard Brumberg. 1954. “Utility Analysis and the Consumption Function: An

…

-australia-retirement-saving-done-right. Sunstein, Cass R. 2014. “The Ethics of Nudging.” Available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2526341. ———, and Richard H. Thaler. 2003. “Libertarian Paternalism Is Not an Oxymoron.” University of Chicago Law Review 70, no. 4: 1159–202. Telser, L. G. 1995. “The Ultimatum Game and the Law of

…

. ———, and Hersh M. Shefrin. 1981. “An Economic Theory of Self-Control.” Journal of Political Economy 89, no. 2: 392–406. ———, and Cass R. Sunstein. 2003. “Libertarian Paternalism.” American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 93, no. 2: 175–9. ———. 2008. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New Haven, CT: Yale University

…

, 134 Lester, Richard, 44–45 Letwin, Oliver, 331 Levitt, Steven, 354 Lewin, Kurt, 338, 340 liar loans, 252 Liberal Democrats, U.K., 332 libertarian paternalism, 322, 323–25 “Libertarian Paternalism Is Not an Oxymoron” (Sunstein and Thaler), 323–25 Lichtenstein, Sarah, 36, 48 life, value of, see value of a life life-cycle hypothesis

A Pelican Introduction: Basic Income

by Guy Standing · 3 May 2017 · 307pp · 82,680 words

been a virtue of modern politicians, on the left as well as the right. Many have implicitly or explicitly embraced a dangerous hybrid known as ‘libertarian paternalism’, which ‘steers’ or ‘nudges’ people to ‘make the right choice’. Today it may be a bigger threat to freedom than outright authoritarianism, because it is

…

state that the vulnerable were left bereft of hope, they should not be surprised if the resentment led to some retributive justice. The Danger of Libertarian Paternalism Many libertarians reveal themselves as little more than moralistic conservatives. Thus Charles Murray sees a basic income as encouraging ‘better’ behaviour and a revival of

…

book on the subject, became principal regulator in Barack Obama’s White House, while the other became an adviser to the British Prime Minister.11 Libertarian paternalism has become a dominant mode of policy making in the globalization era, advocated and implemented by those calling themselves liberals (as in the case of

…

vision of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ is rooted in the political philosophy of utilitarianism, drawing heavily on the writings of Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832). In particular, libertarian paternalism derives from Bentham’s ‘panopticon’, a prison design enabling prisoners to be watched by a guard at all times and their behaviour monitored. Bentham’s

…

paternalistic psychologists and behavioural economists, will surely be welcomed by authoritarians. It is a powerful new reason for supporting basic income. Freedom is incompatible with libertarian paternalism. To consider just one of the many objections, what if the choice to which people are steered turns out to be the wrong choice, either

…

will be of little use to those already retired on a pittance. There is a crude Darwinian ethos that underpins all forms of libertarianism, which libertarian paternalism fails to overcome. Libertarianism ultimately shows no respect for the freedom of the weak and vulnerable, which means most of us at various stages of

…

: we are free because we can act together, politically. This is a good standpoint to combat the excesses of libertarianism, particularly its modern variant of libertarian paternalism.15 Both republican and associational freedom have another dimension which has been given less attention. It is also necessary to curb the power and influence

…

politicians who proclaim their belief in freedom nevertheless support policies that involve telling the ‘poor’ what they may or may not do. The rationalization of libertarian paternalism – undemocratically built into the modern structures of social policy – is that the deliberate steering or nudging of people to take certain options rather than others

The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class

by Guy Standing · 27 Feb 2011 · 209pp · 89,619 words

, everybody will be rating everybody else. The state as libertarian paternalist A new perspective on social and economic policy is behavioural economics, which has produced libertarian paternalism. Nudge, an influential book by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler (2008), two Chicago-based advisers and friends of Barack Obama, was premised on the idea

…

of part of the precariat. They cannot work out how to behave themselves! One could give many examples of the use of behavioural economics and libertarian paternalism to bear on the lives of the precariat, notably through clever use of ‘opt-out’ rules, making it hard to opt out and almost obligatory

…

bread-and-circuses existence being offered by the state through pseudo-science and nudging. The therapy state While they set out to make people happy, libertarian paternalism and the utilitarianism underlying it have unleashed a cult of therapy, mirroring what happened in the period of mass insecurity at the end of the

…

such jobs be pressured to improve them or to do without them because they are unworthy of human endeavour. Workfare and conditionality Part of the libertarian paternalism agenda is to make social policy more ‘conditional’, providing state benefits as long as recipients behave in ways set by the state, ostensibly in their

The Skeptical Economist: Revealing the Ethics Inside Economics

by Jonathan Aldred · 1 Jan 2009 · 339pp · 105,938 words

foolish policies they ask for’.16 But rather than dismissal, seeking a compromise between democracy and science would seem to be a better way forward. Libertarian paternalism is one currently fashionable attempt at this compromise.17 In practice, it means trying to steer a person’s decision making in the right direction

…

philosophy in practice, and see it as influencing government policy. But if this is a leading achievement of libertarian paternalism, it is tempting to conclude that it tells us little we did not already know. Libertarian paternalism is good as far as it goes, but that is not very far. By trying to reconcile

…

-133 happiness drugs 128 Le Grand, Julian 184, 186, 187, 188-189, 195-198 libertarianism view of taxation 82, 84, 86 widening choice 183, 205 libertarian paternalism 227-228 life expectancy 54 limited edition products 60 Locke, John 84 lost wallets 27, 28, 30 love 27, 208 luck and responsibility 105-106

Inside the Nudge Unit: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference

by David Halpern · 26 Aug 2015 · 387pp · 120,155 words

specific impact, which was on pensions policy. One of the papers quoted – and highlighted by Kahneman when he came in – was an early piece on ‘libertarian paternalism’ documenting the powerful impacts of defaults. At that time we had a big review running on pensions, led by an outsider named Adair Turner. I

…

to policy. When Richard Thaler, a Chicago economist, and Cass Sunstein, a Harvard academic lawyer, first wrote their book, it was intended to be called Libertarian Paternalism, just like the paper on which it drew heavily. Fortunately for them, and for the rest of us, a prospective publisher suggested an alternative title

…

approach. The two key advisers to the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg – Richard Reeves and Polly Mackenzie – both liked the liberal aspects of ‘libertarian paternalism’, and also the empiricism associated with the approach. The wheels of the civil service had already started to turn, seeking to interpret what it was

…

. Who nudges the nudgers? The accountability challenge The original title of Thaler and Sunstein’s book Nudge was, as we discovered earlier in this book, Libertarian Paternalism. In the years since publication, and especially for US audiences, practitioners have tended to emphasise the ‘libertarian’ bit of the story, but there is a

…

, D., (2015) The Last Mile: Creating Social and Economic Value from Behavioural Insights. Rotman–UTP Publishing. 6 Sunstein, C. (2014), Why Nudge?: The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism. Yale 7 Sir Robin Young, then Head of the UK’s Department for Business and Industry, as part of the PMSU’s Strategic Audit exercise

Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, From the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First

by Frank Trentmann · 1 Dec 2015 · 1,213pp · 376,284 words

in a vacuum but are influenced by available information as well as their own inertia, procrastination or unfounded optimism.20 Their analysis has encouraged a libertarian paternalism, a mix of measures that gently nudges people towards more sustainable behaviour by improving the ‘architecture’ with the help of more salient information, default rules

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

by Steven Pinker · 24 Sep 2012 · 1,351pp · 385,579 words

, they save far too little for their retirement, as if they expect to die in a few years.77 That is the basis for the “libertarian paternalism” of Richard Thaler, Cass Sunstein, and other behavioral economists, in which the government would, with people’s consent, tilt the playing field between their current

…

, 1984, 2006. 76. Ancestral versus modern discounting rates: Daly & Wilson, 1983, 2000, 2005; Wilson & Daly, 1997. 77. Myopic retirement planning: Akerlof, 1984; Frank, 1988. 78. Libertarian paternalism: Thaler & Sunstein, 2008. 79. Myopic discounting: Ainslie, 2001; Kirby & Herrnstein, 1995. 80. Hyperbolic discounting: Ainslie, 2001; Kirby & Herrnstein, 1995. 81. Hyperbolic discounting as composite of