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on June 1, 2015
I'll start with the Audible version specifically. Except for a decent impression of Homer Simpson, the entire book seems to be narrated by the xtime video male voice. Pronunciations are occasionally way off the mark. The narration is flat and monotone. If you're listening to this in the car to try to stay awake, just go ahead and pull over -- it won't help much.
To the content itself, I was right there with the author for the first 2/3 of the book. Suddenly, it's as if they did an author switch and didn't bother to read the first half that they had already written. Many of the ideas surrounding NUDGE are the use of default options, mandatory choice and other helpful decision-making tools to improve outcomes. These tools are based on harnessing System 1 thinking (intuitive thinking) or by using the laziness of System 2 (rational) thinking. This worked very well on issues such as 401(k) contributions, organ donations and investment choices. However, when pulled into the context of environmental issues and school choice, it is logically inconsistent to assume that humans will suddenly become econs on these issues.
Specifically, corporations are unlikely to be motivated to change their environmental records based on a government blacklist. Most people would not bother to find the list, let alone read it. And corporations would not see the list as an environmental nudge so much as a publicity nudge. It is cheaper to launch ad campaigns to promote the idea that you are a responsible corporation than it is to actually be a responsible corporation. As a test case, consider BP. They had a very successful ad campaign touting their environmental responsibility. Yet, they were responsible for a massive spill that was largely due to irresponsibility. This nudge will likely turn into a publicity war, not an environmental movement.
Next school choice is hardly as simple as test scores. Test scores are a greater reflection of the neighborhoods the schools are in and not the methods of teaching. The best teachers in the world have extremely low odds of turning a low-performing district into a average one. It's far too complex a system to pin success to one variable. Nevertheless, even if test scores are indicative of better schools, this would undoubtedly become another publicity issue. In order to attract dollars (students), ambitious schools would tout all sorts of nonsense to attract students in order to maximize revenue. Spending would have to be cut in order to meet their new advertising budgets. It again, becomes a publicity issue. Assuming that consumers would suddenly start making rational decisions about their kids is divorced from reality and divorced from the first part of the book.
In spite of my disappointment, I enjoyed the book and thought it had many good ideas that I plan to implement into my business as I deal with my clients. But you can effectively throw out the entire last part of the book and lose nothing. In fact, the text would be improved with such an omission.
To the content itself, I was right there with the author for the first 2/3 of the book. Suddenly, it's as if they did an author switch and didn't bother to read the first half that they had already written. Many of the ideas surrounding NUDGE are the use of default options, mandatory choice and other helpful decision-making tools to improve outcomes. These tools are based on harnessing System 1 thinking (intuitive thinking) or by using the laziness of System 2 (rational) thinking. This worked very well on issues such as 401(k) contributions, organ donations and investment choices. However, when pulled into the context of environmental issues and school choice, it is logically inconsistent to assume that humans will suddenly become econs on these issues.
Specifically, corporations are unlikely to be motivated to change their environmental records based on a government blacklist. Most people would not bother to find the list, let alone read it. And corporations would not see the list as an environmental nudge so much as a publicity nudge. It is cheaper to launch ad campaigns to promote the idea that you are a responsible corporation than it is to actually be a responsible corporation. As a test case, consider BP. They had a very successful ad campaign touting their environmental responsibility. Yet, they were responsible for a massive spill that was largely due to irresponsibility. This nudge will likely turn into a publicity war, not an environmental movement.
Next school choice is hardly as simple as test scores. Test scores are a greater reflection of the neighborhoods the schools are in and not the methods of teaching. The best teachers in the world have extremely low odds of turning a low-performing district into a average one. It's far too complex a system to pin success to one variable. Nevertheless, even if test scores are indicative of better schools, this would undoubtedly become another publicity issue. In order to attract dollars (students), ambitious schools would tout all sorts of nonsense to attract students in order to maximize revenue. Spending would have to be cut in order to meet their new advertising budgets. It again, becomes a publicity issue. Assuming that consumers would suddenly start making rational decisions about their kids is divorced from reality and divorced from the first part of the book.
In spite of my disappointment, I enjoyed the book and thought it had many good ideas that I plan to implement into my business as I deal with my clients. But you can effectively throw out the entire last part of the book and lose nothing. In fact, the text would be improved with such an omission.
on December 9, 2016
OK, I must take some blame here for not reading the product details carefully enough when I bought it, but even now when I look at the info Amazon provides, the only place the product info mentions that this book is about
>>> How to Craft Public Policy <<<
is in the middle of the 3rd reviewer's comments. Otherwise, so much of the product text is about "how we make decisions," that I see how easily an average person can be misled into buying a book which is really targeted at social scientists, political scientists, economists, lobbyists, etc. As an example of the misleadingness, consider how Amazon presents its popularity:
#6 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Applied Psychology
#18 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Applied Psychology
#24 in Books > Business & Money > Skills > Decision Making
Further, Amazon is presently bundling this book (i.e. grouping it in "Frequently Bought Together") with 2 other books that do apply on a personal level.
I'd like to think this book's write-up is a product of inattention & happenstance editing, rather than Amazon or the publisher (Penguin) intentionally employing inuendo, association with vaguely related products, etc. to increase the book's sales potential...
This book *really* ought to live under "Politics & Social Sciences," and I will report this as incorrect product information to Amazon.
>>> How to Craft Public Policy <<<
is in the middle of the 3rd reviewer's comments. Otherwise, so much of the product text is about "how we make decisions," that I see how easily an average person can be misled into buying a book which is really targeted at social scientists, political scientists, economists, lobbyists, etc. As an example of the misleadingness, consider how Amazon presents its popularity:
#6 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Applied Psychology
#18 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Applied Psychology
#24 in Books > Business & Money > Skills > Decision Making
Further, Amazon is presently bundling this book (i.e. grouping it in "Frequently Bought Together") with 2 other books that do apply on a personal level.
I'd like to think this book's write-up is a product of inattention & happenstance editing, rather than Amazon or the publisher (Penguin) intentionally employing inuendo, association with vaguely related products, etc. to increase the book's sales potential...
This book *really* ought to live under "Politics & Social Sciences," and I will report this as incorrect product information to Amazon.
on October 29, 2016
I liked the book but I got the sense that this book was written for economists who haven't considered that individuals and groups do not always act in a manner that a model would predict. There is a lot of good information here but I found myself thinking "of course that's why people do that".
on July 14, 2015
This is generally an excellent book and insightful read. I unfortunately read it just before I read Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, which covered some of the same ground. I am happy I read both but wish I read them in reverse order (Kahneman first, then Nudge).
on April 15, 2012
This book is highly political, despite what the authors might tell you. It is also a book for and by the urban liberal elite, again despite what the authors might claim otherwise. That said, it's a must-read book for those interested in decision architecture in the public sphere.
I wish the authors had not claimed to appeal to conservatives. It's not clear wether they know what having a conservative POV means. For example, a conservative would not consider removing the word "marriage" from 1,000,000 pages of public documents in order to "simplify" the distinction between the legal partnership status and the religious union of two people. One doesn't need to count the unintended consequences & unintentional costs to realize that this is not a minor change.
Nor do the authors help their cause by suggesting (in the same sentence) that scuba diving clubs and the Catholic Church should be free to marry whomever they like, free of government interference. That might appeal to some extreme libertarians, but certainly not to conservatives -- religious or otherwise.
All of that said, this is an important read. Thaler and Sunstein wrote the book about how to frame government choices. Others did not. So they will be on countless government panels helping to frame future choices on behalf of our government. What they say matters.
If conservatives object to some of Thaler & Sunstein's ideas, they should write their own book.
PS The authors were part of a White House committee that pushed out Mrs. Obama's "food plate" to replace the food pyramid in public schools. This is a perfect summary of the policy approaches within this book: helpful nudges that might improve students understanding of the balanced diet principle... backed by a large top-down government rollout costing taxpayers over $100M.
I wish the authors had not claimed to appeal to conservatives. It's not clear wether they know what having a conservative POV means. For example, a conservative would not consider removing the word "marriage" from 1,000,000 pages of public documents in order to "simplify" the distinction between the legal partnership status and the religious union of two people. One doesn't need to count the unintended consequences & unintentional costs to realize that this is not a minor change.
Nor do the authors help their cause by suggesting (in the same sentence) that scuba diving clubs and the Catholic Church should be free to marry whomever they like, free of government interference. That might appeal to some extreme libertarians, but certainly not to conservatives -- religious or otherwise.
All of that said, this is an important read. Thaler and Sunstein wrote the book about how to frame government choices. Others did not. So they will be on countless government panels helping to frame future choices on behalf of our government. What they say matters.
If conservatives object to some of Thaler & Sunstein's ideas, they should write their own book.
PS The authors were part of a White House committee that pushed out Mrs. Obama's "food plate" to replace the food pyramid in public schools. This is a perfect summary of the policy approaches within this book: helpful nudges that might improve students understanding of the balanced diet principle... backed by a large top-down government rollout costing taxpayers over $100M.
on May 17, 2017
Plenty of thought-provoking and practical ideas about how we do things, how we get people to do things, and why we are the we are.
on March 11, 2017
I enjoyed this book. Very interesting and informative. Excellent examples. Practical essential information for everyone. I recommend this book without qualifications. Must Read I feel that this is a very useful and essential book for almost everyone. Eldon Edwards
on April 15, 2017
This is a great book for anyone interested in behavioral economics, or economics in general. It's a fun book to read.
on May 13, 2017
If you want to read a book where the authors "nudge" you to their political viewpoints read this one. In first two chapters there were at least three of the type of "nudge" statements and comments they write about. I thougjt this was going to be a good read but I was wrong.
