Much Ado About Nudging – Behavioural Public Policy Blog

"When the editors of this journal asked me to write a commentary on a new paper by George Loewenstein and Nick Chater I did not expect that I would have anything useful to say.  After all, I have known George for longer than we would care to admit, and we mostly share similar worldviews.  Nonetheless, after reading their paper, and after trying and failing to sort things out in person, I found myself left with enough differences of opinion that it seemed worth writing something up.  With one exception I find myself largely in agreement with Loewenstein and Chater, but I am mystified about who they think they are arguing with....Although I agree with this statement I would go further. I know of no behavioral economist, policy maker, or journalist who is on the record saying that nudges are a panacea, nor the appropriate tool to address every policy problem.[2]  Which begs an answer to the following question: why did Loewenstein and Chater write a paper critiquing a view that no one appears to hold?..."