Misbehaving

Image credit: Front cover of Misbehaving by Richard Thaler. Amazon.com

Misbehaving: The Making Of Behavioral Economics is the latest book written by economist Richard Thaler. Like all his other works, it focuses on the field of behavioral economics, and how it affects decision making.

Book Description

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics was published in 2015, aims to illustrate how the actions of humans affect markets. The book, like all previous works by Thaler, was written to appeal to the public at large, so they can learn and benefit from the concept of behavioral economics.

In the book, Thaler builds on the work that he began as a co author of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness. He looks to show the reader that humans will always make decisions along behavioral biases, which in turn will affect the decisions that they make. This goes against traditional ideas about decision making, that say that humans will make the most logical decisions when they need to.

Therefore, Thaler shows the reader how this idea of behavioral economics will affect markets as a whole. It also shows how it can affect so many different areas of your life, from household finance and TV Shows, to disruptive businesses such as Uber.

About The Author

Richard Thaler is an American economist, and the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Thaler was born September 12th 1945, in East Orange, New Jersey. He was the oldest of three brothers. He has three children with his first wife, and is now married to France Ledrec, who is a former marketing professor at the University of Chicago.

Education: He was educated at Newark Academy, before getting his B.A. degree at Case Western Reserve University in 1967. He then went on to get his Masters in 1970 and his PhD in 1974, both at the University of Rochester. His thesis was titled The Value of Saving a Life: A Market Estimate, and was written under supervision from Sherwin Rosen. At that time research paper writing services where not popular, so he managed to do everything by himself.

Once Thaler completed his studies, he began his career as a professor at the University of Rochester. From 1978 to 1995, he became part of the faculty at the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University. He was offered a position at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1995, and that’s where he still works today.

Books: As part of his work Thaler has written several books on behavioral economics, intended to help the lay person understand the concepts included in them. That includes titles like Quasi-Rational Economics and The Winner’s Curse. The Winner’s Curse contains many of his columns that he had originally written for Anomalies, rewritten for this audience.

He is also co-author with Cass Sunstein on Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. This title was released in 1998, and examines how people and organizations can make better decisions. The book is based on the idea that as humans, we all make decisions based on a range of routine biases, which makes decision making less than ideal. In the book, he and Sunstein coined the term ‘Choice architecture.’

Awards: Thaler won the 2017 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics thanks to his work in examining human traits and how they affect decisions, as well as market outcomes. Thaler commented when he won the award that he had shown that “economic agents are human, and that economic models have to incorporate that.”

Many other experts commented on the win, with Peter Gardenfors stating that Thaler had “made economics more human.” Paul Krugman said that “Behavioral econ is the best thing to happen to the field in generations.”

As well as the Nobel Memorial Prize, Thaler has also earned many other awards. These include becoming a member of the National Academy of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has become a Fellow of the American Finance Association.

Book Reviews

When Misbehaving came out, it was met with a lot of critical acclaim. The vast majority of critics picked up on how the book was written for the average lay person, letting them in on a land that they wouldn’t have thought was for them. As Kirkus Reviews pointed out, “Readers with even the remotest interest in how the world really works will enjoy this book.”

Michael Lewis from the Bloomberg View commented, “[Thaler] has just published an odd and interesting professional memoir… It’s odd because it’s funnier and more personal than books by professors tend to be. It’s interesting because it tells the story not just of Thaler’s career but also of the field of behavioral economics.”

On sites like Amazon, the book gets overwhelmingly 5 star reviews too. Many reviewers say that they learned a lot not only about behavioral economics, but the world of economics at large, too. It’s clear that readers are being brought into this world, and learning some highly useful concepts in the process.

Some other comments show that the books makes a dry concept such as economics much more human. As it’s written to appeal to the average lay person, it makes the ideas inside relevant to them.

As such, Misbehaving has seen a lot of success in reviews, and if you’re interested in reading it you’ll see that you’ll get a lot out of it.

Where To Buy

As you saw above, the book is available at Amazon, either in hard copy, ebook, or audio format. There are plenty of other outlets you can find the book at. That includes Barnes & Noble, iBookstore, Indiebound, Oyster, and Powell’s. You’ll also be able to find the book at your local independent bookshops, too.

• https://www.amazon.com/Misbehaving-The-Making-Behavioral-Economics/dp/0393080943
• https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/misbehaving-richard-h-thaler/1120809058?ean=9780393080940
• https://books.apple.com/us/book/misbehaving-the-making-of-behavioral-economics/id922169773
• https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780393080940
• https://www.powells.com/book/misbehaving-the-making-of-behavioral-economics-9780393080940

Misbehaving is a book that really brings the study of behavioral economics to the masses. If you’ve ever wanted to know why it is you make the decisions you’ve made, you’ll have to read it. As the reviews show, it’s a book that has something to offer to everyone who picks it up.