Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics – Richard Thaler

Description

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics by Richard H. Thaler is a fascinating and entertaining account of how one economist challenged the foundations of his own field and helped create an entirely new discipline. Thaler, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and bestselling coauthor of Nudge, was described by Malcolm Gladwell simply as magnificent — and this book shows why.

Thaler tells the story of how he began noticing that real people consistently behave in ways that traditional economic models said they shouldn’t. People overpay for things they already own, make irrational financial decisions based on how choices are framed, lack self-control in predictable ways, and care deeply about fairness even when it costs them money. Rather than dismissing these behaviours as anomalies, Thaler spent his career proving that they are the norm — and that economics needed to account for how humans actually think and act, not how textbooks assume they should.

The book blends personal memoir, intellectual history, and groundbreaking research into a narrative that’s as enjoyable as it is enlightening. Thaler takes readers through decades of battles with mainstream economists, his collaborations with Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, and the gradual acceptance of behavioural economics as a legitimate and powerful framework.

This is essential reading for economics and business students, entrepreneurs, marketers, policymakers, and investors across Kenya and East Africa. Understanding behavioural economics gives you a sharper lens for designing products, pricing strategies, marketing campaigns, and public policies that account for how people truly make decisions.

A perfect companion to Thinking, Fast and Slow, Nudge, and Predictably Irrational.

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