Nick Chater and George Loewenstein first met when they were invited to join David Cameron''s ''Nudge'' advisory board back in 2013. The premise behind it was that persuading individuals to take responsibility for change was the answer to systemic problems. Since then, their research has led to the opposite conclusion : that the status-quo interests of corporate and government bodies and sectors are not only well served by this strategy, but that they actively promote and manipulate it. Drawing on their own huge expertise in behavioural psychology, the authors expose a wide range of eye-opening examples of manipulation - and why it works - and give us a clear understanding of where responsibility for necessary change really lies. From pensions to obesity to climate change - the rich and powerful have pulled off a sleight of hand: blaming individuals for society''s problems while lobbying to shape the rules in their own favour. Chater and Loewenstein argue that if we truly want to solve these problems, we must rewrite the rules for the common good, rather than try to "fix" the victims of bad policies.

Autorentext

Nick Chater is a professor of behavioural science at the Warwick Business School. He was awarded the Rumelhart Prize for lifetime achievement in cognitive science in 2023. Nick has advised the UK Government and co-founded Decision Technology, a research consultancy.

Klappentext

'A stirring call to action' - TIM HARFORD
'A masterclass' - DARON ACEMOGLU
'An excellent book' - NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB

Two decades ago, behavioral economics burst from academia to the halls of power, on both sides of the Atlantic, with the promise that correcting individual biases could help transform society. The hope was that governments could deploy a new approach to addressing society's deepest challenges, from inadequate retirement planning to climate change-gently, but cleverly, nudging people to make choices for their own good and the good of the planet.

It was all very convenient, and false. As behavioral scientists Nick Chater and George Loewenstein show in It's On You, nudges rarely work, and divert us from policies that do. For example, being nudged to switch to green energy doesn't cut carbon, and it distracts from the real challenge of building a low-carbon economy.

It's on You shows how the rich and powerful have repeatedly used a clever sleight of hand: blaming individuals for social problems, with behavioral economics an unwitting accomplice, while lobbying against the systemic changes that could actually help. As two original proponents of the nudge principle, Nick and George now argue that rather than trying to "fix" the victims of bad policies, real progress requires rewriting the social and economic rulebook for the common good.