The Book Nudge: The Authors Purpose, Theme and Thesis

Nudge
Name
Institution
Nudge
The author’s purpose, theme and thesis
Richard and Cass, the authors of the book "Nudge," focuses on a study of psychology and behavioral economics to protect libertarian paternalism and active engineering of opinion planning. In the book, they pay attention to public policy, and circumstances like healthcare, the environment, and saving for the future, however, several concepts they cover have significance to the kinds of conditions and choices people plan. The book considers the choices that people make when they retire. Libertarian paternalism is the union of two political concepts usually regarded as being at odds: libertarianism and paternalism (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008). They believe that the libertarian aspect of people’s plans lies in the straightforward determination that, where individuals should have freedom to do whatever they like. On the other hand, the paternalistic portion tries to guide people's behavior to affect their lives positively. The authors’ focus in the book is in human thinking and factors that influence people to make the decisions that they make.
One of the key reasons for Thaler's and Sunstein's validation of libertarian paternalism in Nudge appeals on realities of human nature and psychology. The book is precarious of the homo economics view that every person thinks and selects reliably well, and thus fits within the textbook portrait of humans presented by economists. Moreover, the book defines two systems that illustrate human thinking, which the authors state as the Reflective and the Automatic System. The Automatic System is fast, it feels inborn, and it does not include what people usually associate with the word thinking. Cases of the Automatic System at work include being nervous while facing air turbulence and stopping when another person throws a ball at you (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008). The Reflective System is careful and self-conscious. It is the one at work when people choose which university to join, where to go on tours, and whether or not to be engaged.
Personal Reaction/Response to the Book
One of the most interesting aspects of the novel is a concept, where the authors state, “Free choices are influenced by the way choices are presented to us.” Thaler and Sunstein apply this line of argument to an extensive array of native ranges: saving, borrowing, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and many others. Along the way, they present captivating r...