Whenever anyone asks me to sign a copy of Nudge, I always add the phrase “nudge for good.” Nudges are merely tools, and these tools existed long before Cass and I gave them a name. People can be nudged to save for retirement, to get more exercise, and to pay their taxes on time, but they can also be nudged to take out a second mortgage on their home and use the money on a spending binge. Businesses or governments with bad intentions can use the findings of the behavioral sciences for self-serving purposes, at the expense of the people who have been nudged. Swindlers did not need to read our
...more
