Wisdom Quotes

"The question is not whether we can afford to change, but how we can afford not to."

"The doughnut invites us to ask not how much, but how well."

"Economic justice and environmental regeneration are two sides of the same coin."

"In a world of hidden defects, the rational actor becomes skeptical of everything."

"We are outsourcing our judgments to machines that know less about context than we do."

"What we call preferences are often just the traces of the constraints we've experienced."

"The question 'what is economics for?' is more important than all our equations."

"Solidarity is not sentiment; it's enlightened self-interest."

"People are not always rational actors. We have systematic biases that influence our choices, and recognizing these makes us better decision makers."

"We anchor on irrelevant numbers without realizing it. The first number we see influences our judgment, even when we know it shouldn't."

"Social proof is incredibly powerful. We do things because we see others doing them, not always because they're right."

"We overweigh recent information and underweigh base rates. This is why recency bias leads us astray."

"Complexity is a form of sludge. Simplifying choices often leads to better decisions."

"Availability bias makes us overestimate the frequency of memorable events and underestimate the mundane."

"The way a problem is framed determines how people solve it. Frames are not neutral."

"People are predictably irrational. Once you know the pattern, you can anticipate the mistake."

"Sunk costs shouldn't influence future decisions, but they do. This is a systematic bias we all fall prey to."

"People are not stupid. They're using reasonable shortcuts that work in many situations but fail in others."

"Doing nothing is a choice, and it's often the choice people make by default."

"The way you ask a question influences the answer you get. Framing is everything."

"We use mental shortcuts that are usually right but sometimes spectacularly wrong."

"The contrast effect means that how good something is depends on what you compare it to."

"People make better long-term decisions when they're not in an emotional state."

"The easy way is often not the right way, but it's the way people choose."

"People are influenced by arbitrary numbers they encounter, even when they know better."

"The way you present information determines what people understand and remember."

"Behavioral insights show that how you ask people to make a choice matters as much as what your choices are."

"We use different decision-making systems for small choices versus big choices."

"Behavioral science is ultimately about treating people with respect while helping them make better choices."

"We need to listen to what the poor tell us about their own lives rather than imposing our assumptions."