Escaping Paternalism: Rationality, Behavioral Economics, and Public Policy (Cambridge Studies in Economics, Choice, and Society)
Cambridge University Press, 12/5/2019
EAN 9781107016941, ISBN10: 1107016940
Hardcover, 506 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm
Language: English
The burgeoning field of behavioral economics has produced a new set of justifications for paternalism. This book challenges behavioral paternalism on multiple levels, from the abstract and conceptual to the pragmatic and applied. Behavioral paternalism relies on a needlessly restrictive definition of rational behavior. It neglects nonstandard preferences, experimentation, and self-discovery. It relies on behavioral research that is often incomplete and unreliable. It demands a level of knowledge from policymakers that they cannot reasonably obtain. It assumes a political process largely immune to the effects of ignorance, irrationality, and the influence of special interests and moralists. Overall, behavioral paternalism underestimates the capacity of people to solve their own problems, while overestimating the ability of experts and policymakers to design beneficial interventions. The authors argue instead for a more inclusive theory of rationality in economic policymaking.
1. Introduction
puppets and puppet masters
2. What is rationality?
3. Rationality for puppets
4. Preference biases
5. The rationality of beliefs
6. Deficient foundations for behavioral policymaking
7. Knowledge problems in paternalist policymaking
8. The political economy of paternalist policymaking
9. Slippery slopes in paternalist policymaking
10. Common threads, escape routes, and paths forward
References
Index.