It’s on You: How Corporations and Behavioral Scientists Have Convinced Us That We’re to Blame for Society’s Deepest Problems

In this sharp takedown, psychologist Chater and behavioral economist Loewenstein (Exotic Preferences) argue that “nudge” theory, the notion of personal decision-making as the route to solving society’s problems, began as a ruse to divert attention from corporate culpability. They cite the famous 1971 “crying Indian” ad, which claimed “People start pollution. People can stop it,” and was paid for by corporations accused of causing pollution. Such notions of individualized responsibility quickly spread to business and economics schools, then to psychology and behavioral studies departments—who “sleepwalked into the enemy’s ranks”—and finally into public policy. The authors themselves spent portions of their own careers implementing public policy nudges that failed; the impetus for their book was to examine nudge policies that had succeeded. Instead, they were astonished to uncover a string of failures (as well as repeated evidence of corporate influence, like “a trail of fingerprints at a crime scene”). Not only does an emphasis on personal behavior routinely fail to solve what it’s meant to solve—the oil industry’s promotion of the “carbon footprint” being the most obvious example—but, shockingly, even nudge theory’s most touted success stories, like marking everyone an automatic “yes” for organ donation or 401(k) savings, have not been effective: neither policy has been shown to result in increased donations or savings. It’s a stunning emperor-has-no-clothes indictment. (Jan.)