Richard Thaler

Richard Thaler
Richard H. Thaleris an American economist and the Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business...
men hands giving
It turns out, that men, when they're taking care of their business, they're not fully attending to the task at hand, but, I'm sure there's an evolutionary explanation for this, if you give them a target, they will aim.
moving kids worry
People worry that if they buy an annuity and then die before the policy starts to pay off, their heirs will lose out. I tell them, "What you should be more worried about is if you outlive your money, you will have to move in with your kids. Ask your kids which of these outcomes they are more worried about."
assumption figures plans
The assumption that everybody will figure out how much they have to save and then will just implement that plan is obviously preposterous.
people recipes months
If people just put away what's left at the end of the month, that's a recipe for failure.
retirement able should
Every American worker should be able to save for retirement via payroll deductions.
years people waiting
Most people start claiming benefits within a year of when they become eligible, although benefits increase substantially if they wait.
thinking people risk
I think the people who've been the most overconfident in our business in the last decade have been the people that called themselves risk managers.
should-have years long
The reason is they failed to learned the primary lesson we should have learned from when Long Term Capital Management went belly up ten years ago. That is, investments that seem uncorrelated can be correlated simply because we're interested in it.
over-you honor credit
he card companies will often, as a courtesy, honor that credit card, but hit you with a penalty. And you keep swiping your card for $3 at Starbucks for your latté, and you're getting hit with a $25 penalty because it's over your credit limit.
long people balance
If rather than setting the minimum balance as the lowest possible amount, so we keep people in debt for as long as possible, we raise the minimum payment and encourage people to pay off their credit cards, we're going to make less money, but we're going to have costumers that are more solvent.
thinking people balance
Is there a market for somebody selling a credit card that helps people pay down their balances? I think the question is yes. But it would have to be sold by a bank that's really willing to invest in being a trusted partner with its consumers, because they will make less money on each consumer.
real use credit
Credit cards have been extremely profitable to banks. They're profitable not from the fees they collect from the retailers that use the credit cards, that pays the bills, but the real profits come from the interest payments and the charges to users that are unexpected.
risk matter thumbs
A good rule of thumb is to assume that everything matters.
thinking incentives lessons
I think we also have learned the lesson that we have to have better incentive structures.