The Nudge That Became Policy

Richard Thaler won the Nobel Prize for proving that people don't make decisions like robots, and institutions rewrote themselves around that finding. What looked like an academic insight turned out to be the most useful kind of power.

Thaler showed retirement savings climb when employers make enrollment automatic instead of voluntary

His 'choice architecture' concept now shapes everything from organ donation rates to health insurance defaults

The insight: you can change outcomes without restricting freedom, which made his work irresistible to governments