Overview

For centuries, economics was dominated by the idea that we are rational individuals who optimize our own ""utility."" Then, in the 1970s, psychologists demonstrated that the reality is a lot messier. We don't really know what our utility is, and we care about people other than ourselves. We are susceptible to external nudges. And far from being perfectly rational, we are prone to ""cognitive biases"" with complex effects on decision-making, such as forgetting to prepare for retirement. In this book, David Orrell explores the findings from psychology and neuroscience that are shaking up economics--and that are being exploited by policy-makers and marketers alike to shape everything from how we shop for food to how we tackle societal happiness or climate change. Finally, he asks whether behavioural economics is a scientific revolution or just a scientific form of marketing.

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David Orrell is an applied mathematician and author of popular-science books. He studied mathematics at the University of Alberta and obtained his doctorate from Oxford University on the prediction of nonlinear systems. His book Apollo's Arrow: The Science of Prediction and the Future of Everything was a national bestseller and finalist for the 2007 Canadian Science Writers' Award, and his book Economyths: Ten Ways Economics Gets It Wrong was a finalist for the 2011 National Business Book Award. Al Kessel has narrated numerous audiobooks, including the bestselling biography Out There: A Story of Ultra Recovery by David Clark, Desert Gold by Zane Grey, and Walt Disney: The Mouse That Roared by Jeff Lenburg. He has also lent his versatile voice to mobile tour apps and video games. When not bringing stories to life, he loves hiking in the Arizona desert with his wife and puppy.

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