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These are the best new articles, videos, podcasts, and other resources we have found to teach behavioral economics. They bring economics to life by showing students real-life examples and current events.
 

News Articles

(Listed from most recent to oldest)

A popular tourist destination in China has installed toilet timers. Reactions are mixed | CNN (June 11, 2024)
Is installing timers on toilets taking nudges a bit too far?

Luxury car sales plunge as buyers put off by South Korea’s neon green licence plates | Financial Times (April 19, 2024)
In an effort to reduce tax evasion by individuals reporting their luxury vehicles as company cars, the South Korean government introduced a new requirement for company vehicles to use bright green license plates. With the signaling value of company cars in decline, foreign luxury car sales have dropped 27%. High School teachers can get free access to the Financial Times via the FT Schools program. Don’t have FT access yet? Check out this article on the same topic from The Street.

That spare change you donate at checkout is adding up to millions for charities | NPR (Mar 10, 2024)
Asking people to round up their total to donate significantly increases total donations.

Behavioral Economics Can Explain the Challenges of Online Dating | Monday Morning Economist (Feb. 26, 2024)
As more and more couples meet online, many individuals find themselves facing over choice and adverse selection problems.

How Behavioral Economics Can Help You Save on Airfare | NerdWallet (July 19, 2023)
Don’t fall prey to buying a cheap seat and lots of expensive add-ons!

Harvard professor who studies honesty accused of falsifying data in studies | The Guardian (June 25, 2023)
The data indicating that honesty increases when signature requirements are at the top, rather than the bottom, of documents is being examined for fraud.

Evidence for behavioural interventions looks increasingly shaky | The Economist (July 27, 2022)
Is publication bias leading us to overestimate the value of nudges? Does averaging the effect of a variety of nudges accurately reflect the overall value of nudging generally? Along with plenty of wonky insights, this article offers a starting point for student discussions on metathinking nudges.

Health food decisions can start at the grocery checkout | Inside Science (September 7, 2021)
A recent study has confirmed it really does matter where you put the pastries.

10 biases that make you spend more and how to avoid them | The Economic Times October 23, 2017
This is not a recent article, but always very relevant. It reveals ten common biases of consumers and tips on how you can avoid them. You could ask students to identify their biases.

Graphics

Chart | Visual Capitalist
A beautiful chart that identifies every type of cognitive bias.

Videos

An Economist’s Christmas | MRU
Is it rational to give gifts? Of course not! And yes, Adam Ruins Everything does a similar video (and it’s very funny!)

Why Buy-one-get-one-free is a bad deal | Vox
Buy one get one free and other promotional deals can often lead you to spend more money, not less than you originally planned. What cognitive bias is being exploited here?

Who Is More Rational? You or the Market? | MRU
The answer should be easy: the market! Despite the market’s usual rationality, Tyler Cowen summarizes a few idiosyncrasies in the market.

Podcasts

How economics can help you stick to your New Year's resolution | The Indicator
Start brainstorming ways you can incentivize yourself to exercise in the new year.

How an econ experiment changed lives | The Indicator
High-achieving, low-income students are less likely to apply to elite colleges, in part because these students have misconceptions about the cost of these schools and their own qualifications. This is a good news story of how a nudge in the form of a mailer changed their behavior.

The trouble with table 101 | Planet Money
Should a restaurant buy a 3-hour chair or a 42-minute chair? This is a real question. In this episode, get an inside look at all of the decisions a restaurant must make to recoup costs. Most of these choices revolve around nudging the customer to spend less time and more money per meal.

Interview with Daniel Kahneman | Conversations with Tyler
Nobel-prize winning psychologist tells us how to use behavioral economics to our advantage - such as how to structure our vacation so we enjoy it more.

Why aren’t students showing up for college | Hidden Brain
It’s actually quite common for a student to apply and get accepted to a college but not enroll for classes that fall that it has a name: summer melt. Hidden Brain explores the factors surrounding this phenomenon and how researchers are nudging these students to enroll.

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