Interview with Richard Thaler

This is the eighth in a series of interviews with Chicago School economists. Read "After the Blowup," John Cassidy's story on Chicago economists and the financial crisis. (Subscribers only.)

Thaler, one of the founders of behavioral economics, was out of town when I visited Chicago. I subsequently caught up with him on the phone, and I began by asking him what remained of the efficient-markets hypothesis, which he has long questioned.

Thaler: Well, I always stress that there are two components ...