The lesson of my field, behavioral economics, is that we need to understand the ways in which we differ from the rational… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
Everyone's lost a lot of money on their 401k plans. I've heard some people calling them 201k plans. So it's even more… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
Tax cuts are one of many ways to stimulate the economy. Building infrastructure, for example, is another. — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
Retirement savings is probably behavioral economists' greatest success story. It is a prototypical behavioral-economics problem because saving for retirement is cognitively hard… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
The lesson from behavioral economics is that people only save if it's automatic. — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
In the 1940s, economics started getting highly mathematical. It was basically because economists weren't smart enough to write down models of real… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
Traditional economics is based on imaginary creatures sometimes referred to as 'Homo economicus.' I call them Econs for short. Econs are amazingly… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
In the world of traditional economics, it shouldn't matter whether you use an opt-in or opt-out system. So long as the costs… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
Behavioral economics offers a plausible explanation for overreactions by the market. For example, a long period of bad performance can lead to… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
It is true that I am one of the co-authors of 'Nudge,' and I am a behavioral economist, but it does not… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
When an economist says the evidence is "mixed," he or she means that theory says one thing and data says the opposite. — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
The Nobel Prize is going to be 'fun money' - for an occasion, when my wife and I want a $50 bottle of wine. — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
In some ways, the finding that financial education doesn't provide long-term payoffs is hardly surprising. After all, how much do you remember from your… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
Fortunately, economists open to new ways of thinking are finding novel ways to use supposedly irrelevant factors to make the world a better place. — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
If people just put away what's left at the end of the month, that's a recipe for failure. — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
The wealth in many large estates has never been taxed because it is largely in the form of unrealized - therefore untaxed - capital… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
The lesson of my field, behavioral economics, is that we need to understand the ways in which we differ from the rational human assumed… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
I think behavioral economists don't have any more of an explanation about the rise of Trump than anyone else. — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
There are cases when I can make myself better off by restricting my future choices and commit myself to a specific course of action. — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
For amateur golfers, I think one of the biggest mistakes is to model their play on professionals. — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
he card companies will often, as a courtesy, honor that credit card, but hit you with a penalty. And you keep swiping your card… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image
Social Security may be the most beloved of all the government's programs, partly because it requires so little thinking. You pay taxes while you… — Richard Thaler Copy Share Image