The Key to Scaling Taxes

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Liszt and his colleagues sent out more than 80 thousand messages to self employed dominicans as well as firms. Half received the message about tax offenders names being made publicly available. The benefit cost analysis for those deciding whether or not to pay their taxes suddenly looked very different. Kuching, our intervention worth this simple messaging programm brought in an extra hundred million dollars in tax revenue.

In a new book called The Voltage Effect, the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research — is trying to start a scaling revolution. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, List teaches us how to avoid false positives, how to know whether a given success is due to the chef or the ingredients, and how to practice “optimal quitting.”