Behavioural science has caused a revolution in public policy over the past two decades. In 2017, the OECD reported that behavioural insights … Continue reading “Implications for Behavioural Economics from the Scottish Enlightenment”

The economist Carl Menger claimed in 1891 that “in every conflict of interest between the rich and poor, the strong … Continue reading “Adam Smith and problems with the new paternalism”

Strategies based on Behavioural Economics — ‘nudges’— now inform policy thinking in areas as diverse as obesity, tax compliance, smoking, … Continue reading “Can Behavioural Economics improve economic policymaking?”

This post is an abridged version of a commentary on a 2016 Beesley Lecture. Behavioural economics is not a challenge … Continue reading “Behavioural economics – a critique of its policy conclusions”

Anyone who has what might be called an instinct for freedom is likely to baulk at being dictated to by … Continue reading “Is Behavioural Economics subject to irrational exuberance?”

Behavioural economics involves the application of the insights of experimentally-based behavioural psychology to the analysis of economic decision-making. It has … Continue reading “Behavioural economics and mainstream economics: friends or foes?”

One thing that has always struck me about behavioural economics are the parallels to arguments about market failure (such as … Continue reading “Behavioural economics and human imperfection: A bad case for government control”

A rapidly growing literature on behavioural economics shows that some errors made by regulators are persistent and predictable. Behavioural economics … Continue reading “Regulatory Conduct Authority applies behavioural economics to regulators”