Richard Thaler

EXCLUSIVE
  • Winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
  • Professor of Behavioral Science & Economics - University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
  • Field-Defining Pioneer of Behavioral Economics
  • Co-Author of Bestseller 'Nudge', Author of 'Misbehaving'

Nobel laureate Richard H. Thaler is a preeminent behavioral economist studying decision-making in the intersection of economics, finance, and psychology. Thaler co-authored global bestseller Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness and authored Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics alongside numerous articles in prominent academic journals: The American Economics Review, The Journal of Finance, The Journal of Political Economy, and more. He is a regular contributor to the New York Times Economic View column. Thaler was honored with the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his outstanding contributions to behavioral economics.

Thaler is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a Founding Principal at Fuller and Thaler Asset Management. He was an informal advisor to the coalition government led by David Cameron, the Obama administration, several professional sports teams, and the Alliance for Decision Education. He has been invited to speak to the London School of Economics, Talks at Google, the Aspen Institute, and more.

 


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Past Hosts Include:
  • Talks at Google
  • The British Academy
  • The Nobel Prize, Stockholm
  • London School of Economics
  • The Aspen Institute
  • The University of Chicago
Rave Reviews About Richard Thaler
If I had to be trapped in an elevator with any contemporary intellectual, I’d pick Richard Thaler.

Richard Thaler: ‘We Are Incapable of Learning From the Past’ | Morningstar Inc. - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Richard Thaler
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How to Make Better Decisions

Drawing on decades of research in the fields of behavioral science and economics, Nobel laureate RICHARD THALER offers a new perspective on personal choices we may later regret - bad personal investments, consumption of unhealthy foods, neglect of our natural resources - and shows us how sensible "c ...

Drawing on decades of research in the fields of behavioral science and economics, Nobel laureate RICHARD THALER offers a new perspective on personal choices we may later regret - bad personal investments, consumption of unhealthy foods, neglect of our natural resources - and shows us how sensible "choice architecture" can nudge people toward the best decisions. Whether motivating students to embark on a path to success or helping executives inspire organizations, Thaler helps all audiences hack the practice of becoming their best selves.

Understanding American Markets & Consumer Behavior

Nobel laureate RICHARD THALER unpacks the psychology of decision-making which lies in the gap between economics and psychology. Thaler presents everyday challenges to the received economic wisdom, examining cases and transactions relevant to host industries and concerns. ...

Nobel laureate RICHARD THALER unpacks the psychology of decision-making which lies in the gap between economics and psychology. Thaler presents everyday challenges to the received economic wisdom, examining cases and transactions relevant to host industries and concerns.

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How Richard Thaler brought on a new age of economic thought

Nobel laureate RICHARD THALER is a field-defining pioneer in behavioral science and economics. He shares his insights into the link between economics and psychology in informative discussions full of practical examples of how and why we make the choices we do on current issues of the day. A decade later, his global bestseller Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness is acknowledge as a milestone in the development behavioral economics.

Thaler’s latest talks reflect the revised edition of his book, refreshed from cover to cover, titled Nudge: The Final Edition, which makes use of both author’s experiences in and out of government over the past dozen years as well as an explosion of new research in numerous academic disciplines. Audiences come away with actionable knowledge in behavioral economics leading to better choices every day, making Thaler one of the most impactful and meaningful presenters available.

Watch Richard Thaler in conversation with Morningstar >>

Watch Richard Thaler give a Nobel Prize Lecture >>

Business leaders everywhere turn to Richard Thaler and his work to help produce better results, products, services, and sales.

RICHARD THALER, the Nobel Laurette, is a pioneer the field of Behavioral Economics, which link economics, behavior, and psychology. Business leaders everywhere have turned to it to help produce better results, products, services, and sales—places like GoogleThe Aspen InstituteCarnegie Mellon, the London School of Economics and more. He is an advisor to the Alliance for Decision Education, which works to have decision-making skills taught to students K-12 in all U.S. schools. 

He co-authored the global bestseller Misbehaving and Nudge, which sold more than 1.5 million copies and reveals how human traits affect economic decision-making at work and in the markets. When the brightest minds speak about Thaler and his work they say, “If I had to be trapped in an elevator with any contemporary intellectual, I’d pick Richard Thaler. (Malcolm Gladwell) "Nudge is as important a book as any I’ve read in perhaps twenty years." (The American Prospect) Be it in-person or virtual, whenever Thaler is in front of an audience they feel the exact same way.

Watch some of Richard Thaler's talks here >>

Richard Thaler’s economic theories are implemented by top companies 

Nobel Prize-winner RICHARD THALER is a field-defining pioneer of Behavioral Economics, a field that explores the intersection of economics, finance and psychology. Co-author of the global bestseller Nudge, as well as Misbehaving, Thaler reveals how human traits such as limited cognitive abilities, lack of self-control, and pro-social preference affect economic decision-making as well as market outcomes, ultimately underscoring the human side of economics and its fascinating implications for investors, marketers, policy-makers and consumers. Thaler's game-changing theories have been behind some of the most effective market strategies and revolutionary government and business policies. As a McKinsey article succinctly stated: "Richard Thaler is the rare academic whose ideas are being translated directly into action." Thaler was fundamental in popularizing nudge theory and inspiring key policy reforms including automatic enrollment in 401(k) retirement plans, and the notion of automatic escalation to boost how much workers save. An advisor to David Cameron, Thaler also helped set up and run the Behavioural Insights Team (also known as the "Nudge Unit"), the world's first government institution dedicated to the application of behavioral sciences, which helps the UK government make public services more cost-effective and efficient. The unit was so successful, there are now nearly 200 similar units around the worldAnd as Quartz highlighted in a recent article, General Motors is implementing nudge theory to help retain female employees. Thaler has even worked with National Football League teams on their strategy in their annual draft. Beyond groundbreaking policies and business strategies, Thaler has made headlines as a Founding Principal at Fuller & Thaler Asset Management, which runs and sub-advises funds that consistently outperform the S&P and Bloomberg competitors. As Forbes said, "More than an academic, Chicago prof. Richard Thaler turns research into market-beating returns." Thaler has been sought-out to unpack the lessons of behavioral economics at Google, The Aspen Institute, Carnegie Mellon, the London School of Economics and more. His keynotes reveal groundbreaking takeaways on how to drive desired behaviors and economic outcomes and provide engaging lessons on life (and its many anomalies) in and beyond the field of economics. 

Watch some of Richard Thaler's talks here >>

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Biography

Richard H. Thaler is the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics. Thaler studies behavioral economics and finance as well as the psychology of decision-making which lies in the gap between economics and psychology. He investigates the implications of relaxing the standard economic assumption that everyone in the economy is rational and selfish, instead entertaining the possibility that some of the agents in the economy are sometimes human.

Thaler is the co-author (with Cass R. Sunstein) of the global best seller Nudge (2008) in which the concepts of behavioral economics are used to tackle many of society’s major problems. In 2015 he published Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics. He has authored or edited four other books: Quasi-Rational Economics, The Winner's Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life, and Advances in Behavioral Finance (editor) Volumes I and II. He has published numerous articles in prominent journals such as the American Economics Review, the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Political Economy, and is a regular contributor to the New York Times Economic View column. In 2018. he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. 

Thaler is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Finance Association and the Econometrics Society, and in 2015 served as the President of the American Economic Association.

Before joining the University of Chicago faculty in 1995 Thaler taught at the University of Rochester and Cornell as well as visiting stints at The University of British Columbia, the Sloan School of Management at MIT, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.

Thaler is a Founding Principal at Fuller and Thaler Asset Management where they manage about $10 billion in U.S. equities.  He was an informal advisor to the coalition government led by David Cameron, the Obama administration, and currently for several professional sports teams.  

Originally from New Jersey, Thaler attended Case Western Reserve University where he received a bachelor's degree in 1967. Soon after, he attended the University of Rochester where he received a master's degree in 1970 and a PhD in 1974. He joined the Chicago Booth faculty in 1995.