The Exaggerated Power Of Nudges, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

Felix Salmon's two cents:

Consider an issue with two possible lines of attack: a cheapbehavioral-economics solution, B, and a more expensive andpolitically-fraught substantive solution, S. Does implementing B makeimplementing S less likely? If B didn't exist, would S be more likelyto come about? Surely there are cases where the answer to bothquestions is yes — and where therefore behavioral economics is a badthing, not a good thing. The ability to cover up issues with...