The Exaggerated Power Of Nudges

by Patrick Appel

This NYT op-ed by George Loewenstein and Peter Ubel argues behavioral economics is no panacea. Erik Voeten helpfully summarizes:

The policy implications from many behavioral economics studies areoften relatively pain-free from a political perspective. For example,they suggest that simply giving consumers a bit more information canencourage them to eat healthier, save energy, and make better healthcare choices. The problem, Loewenstein and Ubel assert, is that thesesolutions...