Thaler has an interesting perspective to the study Economics and its implementation to our
daily lives. I think that even as a scholar is able to really see that theories of economics
interact with daily problems and people on a daily basis. He explains that what we may
think is not important to know may actually be the best information to know. That
economists sometimes forget that it doesn’t have to be rational but actually the way people
feel or perceive something is even more important. For example, as a student his students
were happier when they got a grade that was historically good rather than what the 137
really meant if you only got 97. This grade difference and the students acceptance needed a
behavior change from Thaler in order to get acceptance from his students. He definitely
needed to use novelty in his approach.
However, he argues that the change in handling different situations and being open minded
to get to your goal has been happening and making the world better. For example, the 401
k and it implementation by employers is now made easier for its employees to take
advantage of and start saving for retirement. The fact that information or enrollment is
made easier for everyone to understand is making a big difference. Furthermore, the US
government also had to really think about the end goal of a tax break and how it would