"I don't believe in proselytizing government. I think that's a false strategy," he says. "It was easy to influence the bush administration to make their social security privatiation plan better." 'Just to throw up your hands and say they're a bunch of dumb crooks isn't very helpful'
Richard Thaler of the U. of Chicago Graduate School of Business defends the idea of libertarian paternalism--how government might use the insights of behavioral economics to help citizens make better choices. Host Russ Roberts accepts the premise that individuals make imperfect choices but challenges Thaler on the likelihood that government, in practice, will improve matters. Along the way they discuss the design of Sweden's social security system, organ donations and whether professors at Cornell University are more or less like you and me.