Yesterday, American economist Richard Thaler was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Thaler is well known for his best-selling book titled “Nudge”. Based on a concept that that people can be influenced by prompts, it has even influenced governments with some setting up nudge units. The Nobel Committee’s statement on this award reads - “Richard H. Thaler has incorporated psychologically realistic assumptions into analyses of economic decision-making. By exploring the consequences of limited rationality, social preferences, and lack of self-control, he has shown how these human traits systematically affect individual decisions as well as market outcomes.” Today, we ask one of his students, why he thinks the award is timely.

Presented by: Sharaad Kuttan Tan Chung Han