College ~20 hours
Behavioral Economics Mastery: How People Really Decide
Standard models assume people optimize; behavioral economics studies what happens when they don't — quite. This path covers the landmark findings: loss aversion, present bias, overconfidence, and the social motives that shape markets. You will see how firms exploit biases, how choice architecture steers decisions, and where nudges genuinely improve welfare versus merely manipulating it. Each bias is paired with its evidence and its limits, so you learn skepticism alongside the science.
Steps
Step 1: The Rational Baseline
The standard model of choice — utility maximization under constraints — that behavioral findings react against.
Step 2: Biases and Heuristics
Anchoring, availability, overconfidence: the mental shortcuts that systematically distort judgment.
Step 3: Prospect Theory
Loss aversion, reference dependence, and diminishing sensitivity — the descriptive theory of risky choice.
Step 4: Time and Self-Control
Present bias and hyperbolic discounting: why we procrastinate, and what commitment devices do about it.
Step 5: Social Preferences
Fairness, reciprocity, and trust: the other-regarding motives that markets and experiments reveal.
Step 6: Behavioral Firms and Markets
How businesses design prices, contracts, and ads around predictable biases — from drip pricing to defaults.
Step 7: Nudges and Choice Architecture
Defaults, framing, and reminders: steering choices while preserving freedom — and where the line sits.
Step 8: Behavioral Policy
Applying the science to savings, health, and tax compliance — with honest attention to evidence and ethics.