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People I (Mostly) Admire

58. Why Is Richard Thaler Such a ****ing Optimist?

People I (Mostly) Admire

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Society & Culture

4.61.9K Ratings

🗓️ 1 January 2022

⏱️ 47 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Nobel laureate and pioneering behavioral economist spars with Steve over what makes a nudge a nudge, and admits that even economists have plenty of blind spots.

Transcript

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0:00.0

My guest today is Richard Thaler.

0:08.0

He's one of the true pioneers in the field of behavioral economics, which integrates

0:11.9

psychology and economics.

0:13.8

He's a co-author of the book Nudge, the final edition, a recent update to the 2008

0:18.6

blockbuster bestseller, and he's won the Nobel Prize in economics.

0:22.4

But he's different from the other Nobel Prize winners I know, in two important dimensions.

0:28.0

First, he is a healthy dose of common sense to go with his brilliance.

0:32.6

And second, he actually has a sense of humor.

0:36.8

If you've seen the movie, you'll remember the scene, and you'll be surprised to learn

0:41.1

that I was in it.

0:48.1

Welcome to People I Mostly Admire with Steve Levin.

0:52.2

People I Mostly Admire is Ad Week's best interview podcast of 2021.

0:59.7

I first got to know Richard Thaler, roughly 15 years ago, when he and another professor

1:04.9

at the Chicago Boost School of Business, Gene Phama, invited me for a round of golf.

1:09.5

Little did I know at the time that how would become the black sheep of the threesome,

1:14.4

the only one not to win a Nobel Prize.

1:17.6

If since become friends, and when I'm in need of a creative idea to solve a tough problem,

1:22.4

Richard is always on the short list of people I look to for help.

1:26.2

He's more or less a dream guest for me.

1:28.8

He's smart, he's well known, he loves to talk, and he and I disagree on many topics.

1:35.6

So I suspect some sparks will fly.

1:44.5

You've pioneered a field that everyone initially thought was silly, but now it's highly

...

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