Nudge (book) Nudge (book) Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness is a book written by University of Chicago economist Richard H. Thaler and Harvard Law School Professor Cass R. Sunstein, first published in 2008. The book draws on research in psychology and behavioral economics to defend libertarian paternalism and active engineering of choice architecture. The book received largely positive reviews. "The Guardian" described it as "never intimidating, always amusing and elucidating: a jolly economic romp but with serious lessons within." It was named one of the best books of 2008 by "The Economist". One of the main justifications for Thaler's
Nudge (book) they are influenced by their social interactions. The book describes two systems that characterize human thinking, which Sunstein and Thaler refer to as the "Reflective System" and the "Automatic System". These two systems are more thoroughly defined in Daniel Kahneman's book "Thinking, Fast and Slow". The Automatic System is "rapid and is or feels instinctive, and it does not involve what we usually associate with the word "thinking"". Instances of the Automatic System at work include smiling upon seeing a puppy, getting nervous while experiencing air turbulence, and ducking when a ball is thrown at you. The Reflective System is