American - Economist | September 12, 1945 -
If governments want to encourage good citizenship, they should try making the desired behavior more fun.
Richard Thaler
GoodFunBehaviorCitizenshipWant
As a general rule, the United States government is run by lawyers who occasionally take advice from economists. Others interested in helping the lawyers out need not apply.
GovernmentAdviceLawyersRunNeed
You can't make evidence-based policy decisions without evidence.
DecisionsYouEvidenceWithoutMake
How can government reduce the frequency and the severity of future catastrophes? Companies that have the potential to create significant harm must be required to pay for the costs they inflict, either before or after the fact. Economists agree on this general approach. The problem is in putting such a policy into effect.
FutureGovernmentPotentialProblem
Morality aside, there are other factors deterring 'strategic defaults,' whether in recourse or nonrecourse states. These include the economic and emotional costs of giving up one's home and moving, the perceived social stigma of defaulting, and a serious hit to a borrower's credit rating.
HomeMovingGivingCreditGiving Up
People are less likely to think it's immoral to walk away from their home if they know others who have done so. And if enough people do it, the stigma begins to erode.
HomeWalkPeopleThinkEnoughKnow
If there is one thing that most economists agree about in the realm of tax policy, it is that it's best to broaden the base of any tax, all else being equal. That means minimizing the number of deductions and exclusions from taxable income in order to lower marginal rates and reduce distortions.
BestTaxEqualPolicyEconomists
If we think that high marginal tax rates are bad because they distort incentives, the same is then true for tax subsidies.
ThinkBadTaxTrueSameHigh
I don't think it says anywhere in the Bible that tithing should be calculated on a before-tax basis.
BibleThinkAnywhereCalculatedSays
Pundits are no better at forecasting election outcomes than they would be at predicting the final path of a hurricane. Smart pundits should consider either abandoning this activity or consulting with the geeks before rendering their guesses.
PathSmartBetterElectionFinal
Most of us think that we are 'better than average' in most things. We are also 'miscalibrated,' meaning that our sense of the probability of events doesn't line up with reality. When we say we are sure about a certain fact, for example, we may well be right only half the time.
TimeThinkRealityBetterMeaning
It makes sense for social scientists to become more involved in policy because many of society's most challenging problems are, in essence, behavioral.
SocietyProblemsBecomeMorePolicy
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Richard Thaler quotes