A number of readers emailed, tweeted, sent carrier pigeons, etc. to ask what I had to say regarding a recent NYT op-ed piece by George Loewenstein and Peter Ubel that discusses the limitations of using behavioral economics to drive policy. The authors summarize their central thesis as follows:
But the field has its limits. As [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Reader Questions'
Reader Question: Is (Behavioral) Economics Behaving Badly?
July 20th, 2010 · 20 Comments
Behavioral Econ · Policy · Reader Questions
Tags: Behavioral Econ · Policy · Reader Questions
Reader Question: So What’s Up With This Strasburg Kid?
June 8th, 2010 · 11 Comments
Behavioral Econ · Buyer Beware · Reader Questions · Sports
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the exact wording of the question, but it’s what everyone seems to be asking nowadays…reader Seth writes:
I had a topic for you to address that I thought might be good for someone with a behavioral econ background. Tonight is Stephen Strasburg’s MLB debut (#1 uber prospect) for the Nationals. The [...]
Tags: Behavioral Econ · Buyer Beware · Reader Questions · Sports
Reader Question: How Do I Become A Behavioral Economics Nerd?
May 25th, 2010 · 9 Comments
Behavioral Econ · Reader Questions
A reader writes:
I’m a grad student at Georgetown University, where I’m in the dual masters in public policy/masters in economics program. As part of that program, I took the first year PhD sequence in the econ department. We used the usual texts for micro, macro, and metrics, but we didn’t really talk about behavioral stuff. [...]
Tags: Behavioral Econ · Reader Questions
Reader Question: So Should I Just FedEx My Luggage Now?
May 19th, 2010 · 8 Comments
Behavioral Econ · Buyer Beware · Decision Making · Policy · Reader Questions
I’ve gotten a few requests for comment on the whole “airlines now charging customers to breathe on their airplanes” issue, so I will give a bit of an economist’s take on the matter here.
First, a recap for those of you who, unlike me, haven’t been watching the airline industry with baited breath to see what [...]
Tags: Behavioral Econ · Buyer Beware · Decision Making · Policy · Reader Questions
Reader Question: So You’re Telling Me I Have To Pay More To NOT Have A Real Book?
May 5th, 2010 · 10 Comments
Econ 101 · Markets · Reader Questions
Reader Steve writes me with the following (full disclosure: I may have made out with Steve in 11th grade. He also may have sat me down and made me watch Star Wars, since my nerd cred was sorely lacking.):
I wanted to get your disciplined economist’s opinion on the topic of the pricing of electronic [...]
Tags: Econ 101 · Markets · Reader Questions