The Winners Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies Then and Now

Nobel Prize-winner and co-author of Nudge, Richard Thaler, and rising star economist Alex Imas explore behavioral economics in this fully updated edition of the seminal work The Winner’s Curse. Over thirty years ago, Richard Thaler introduced readers to behavioral economics in his seminal Anomalies column, written with collaborators including Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. These provocative articles challenged the fundamental idea at the heart of economics that people are selfish, rational optimizers, and provided the foundation for what became behavioral economics. That was then. Now, three decades later, Thaler has teamed up with economist Alex Imas to write a new book. Every chapter starts with an original Anomaly, retaining the spirit of its timestamp. Then, shifting to the present, they provide current updates to each, asking how the original findings have held up and how the field has evolved since then. With both readability and rigor, The Winner’s Curse illuminates these ideas for anyone—from those with a cursory understanding of economics to fellow economists. Each chapter provides a key insight into human behavior so readers learn how to better understand the choices made by their friends, colleagues, and customers, and might just become better at making decisions themselves. The book is accessible and insightful, making it a must-read for anyone interested in behavioral economics and the psychology of decision-making.