![]() ![]() In May of this year, the White House convened a group of experts for a workshop-along with the National Institute on Aging (part of the National Institutes of Health), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the White House Council of Economic Advisers and the Association for Psychological Science-to discuss how behavioral economics can better serve public policy. In 2009, Obama appointed him as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, where Sunstein championed cost-benefit analysis of regulation, as well as “nudges.” Sunstein left government in 2012 to return to academia, but the “nudge” school of thought has clearly lingered in the Oval Office: The newly created behavioral economics task force is the most prominent-and most disconcerting-example yet. ![]() If the idea of federal government officials treating you like a child makes you squeamish, you must first understand the rise of “behavioral economics” in politics-a practice that is expanding rapidly with very little public involvement, transparency, or oversight.īehavioral economics-the study of how psychology affects people’s decisions-most recently became a buzzword when former White House official Cass Sunstein co-authored, with University of Chicago economist Richard Thaler, the book Nudge while Sunstein was still a law professor at Harvard. Maya Shankar, a senior adviser in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy who is assembling the team, recently told the New York Times the task force will use “evidence-based policymaking” so that “government services are efficient, effective, and serve the needs of the American people.” To be clear, Congress did not pass legislation authorizing such activity this is something dreamt up by bureaucracies to force their own preferences on citizens, whether by combatting obesity or discouraging procrastination when it comes to saving for retirement. Whether you realize it or not, this so-called “nudging” of consumer choice, at the hand of government, is underway: Earlier this year, the White House revealed that it is establishing a task force dedicated to studying how to motivate you-just as parents do-to do what the government thinks is best for you. But is it a mayor’s job to motivate you to drink less soda? Is it government’s job to urge you to sign up for health care by way of schools stealthily sending messages home through your children? Should bureaucrats find ways to change your mind about which washing machine you buy? Thousands of books and websites offer suggestions for how to get kids to do homework or clean up their rooms. Parents often try to motivate their children with rewards, from stickers to ice cream to toys. ![]()
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