Named one of Financial Times ’s Best Books of 2025, that bestselling author Tim Hartford called "fun" and "nerdy in the best way" Nobel Prize winner Richard H. Thaler and rising star economist Alex O. Imas explore the past, present, and cutting-edge future in behavioral economics in The Winner’s Curse . Why do people cooperate with one another when they have no obvious motivation to do so? Why do we hold on to possessions of little value? And why is the winner of an auction so often disappointed? Over thirty years ago, Richard H. Thaler introduced readers to behavioral economics in his seminal Anomalies column, written with collaborators including Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. These provocative articles challenged the fundamental idea at the heart of economics that people are selfish, rational optimizers, and provided the foundation for what became behavioral economics. That was then. Now, three decades later, Thaler has teamed up with economist Alex O. Imas to write a new book with an original and creative format. Each chapter starts with an original Anomaly, retaining the spirit of its time stamp. Then, shifting to the present, the authors provide updates to each, asking how the original findings have held up and how the field has evolved since then. It turns out that the original findings not only hold up well, but they show up almost everywhere. Anomalies pop up in people’s decisions to save for retirement and how they carry outstanding credit card debt. Even experts fail to optimize. The key concept of loss aversion explains missed putts by PGA pros and the selection of which stocks to sell by portfolio managers. In this era of meme stocks and Dogecoin, it is hard to defend the view that financial markets are highly efficient. The good news, however, is that the anomalies have gotten funnier. With both readability and rigor, The Winner’s Curse is for anyone, from those with a cursory understanding of economics to fellow economists. Each chapter provides a key insight into human behavior so readers learn how to better understand the choices made by their friends, colleagues, and customers, and they might just become better at making decisions themselves. Only recommended for humans. "It's fun, it's nerdy in the best way, and I have no hesitation at recommending it." —Tim Hartford, for the Financial Times “Best Books of 2025” “Thaler and Imas gleefully trash numerous central dogmas of modern-day economics and instead foreground how knee-jerk intuitions, fuzzy rules of thumb, and social pressure rule human decision-making. It’s a sophisticated discussion, complete with a few equations, but lay readers will enjoy the lucid prose and down-home conclusions. The result is an enlightening analysis of economic choice as a stubbornly flawed and human endeavor." —Publishers Weekly Quotes for Nudge “Few books can be said to have changed the world, but Nudge did. The Final Edition is marvelous: funny, useful, and wise.” —Daniel Kahneman, New York Times bestselling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow “ Nudge should be required reading for anyone who aspires to run a country, lead a company, raise a child, or make a choice. It’s the gold standard for using behavioral science to guide decisions and policies, and the new edition is even better than the original.” —Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife “We used the core principles of Nudge when designing our protocols for resuming play during the pandemic. This new edition provides a refreshed set of practical concepts and strategies to influence decision-making for good.” —Adam Silver, NBA commissioner “If you’ve read Nudge and think you fully grasp the concept and its uses, you are mistaken. The new edition significantly deepened my understanding of what nudges are and how they can be employed. It truly is a must-read.” —Robert Cialdini, New York Times bestselling author of Influence “Revolutionary. Once you’ve read it, you start seeing the evidence everywhere. Evidence that economic orthodoxy is woefully out of date, that as humans we’re not always rational, and that in every bit of architecture, design, and economic choice, we are ALWAYS being nudged in some way. Once we see and accept that, we can ask how we can make better choices. This book points us in the direction. It changes the way you see the world—this edition even more so.” —David Byrne, musician “ Nudge has changed the world. You may not realise it, but as a result of its findings you’re likely to live longer, retire richer and maybe even save other people’s lives.” — The Times (London) “Probably the most influential popular science book ever written.” —BBC Radio 4 “One of the few books . . . that fundamentally changed the way I think about the world.” —Steven D. Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics “Engaging and insightful . . . The conceptual argument is power
