Treasury Guest Lecture: Productivity in a Changing World Series - Cass Sunstein

About this presentation
Since the original publication of “Nudge” more than a decade ago, the title has entered the vocabulary of business people, policy makers, engaged citizens, and consumers everywhere. The book has given rise to more than 200 "nudge units" in governments around the world and countless groups of behavioral scientists in every part of the economy.
In this seminar, Professor Cass Sunstein, co-author of “Nudge” and a concept inventor, will discuss themes and lessons from the book and share reflections on how to use thoughtful "choice architecture" to help us make better decisions for ourselves, our families, and our society.
About the presenter
Cass R. Sunstein is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. He is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School.
In 2020, the World Health Organization appointed him as Chair of its technical advisory group on Behavioural Insights and Sciences for Health. From 2009 to 2012, he was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and after that, he served on the President’s Review Board on Intelligence and Communications Technologies and on the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board.
Professor Sunstein has testified before congressional committees on many subjects, and he has advised officials at the United Nations, the European Commission, the World Bank, and many nations on issues of law and public policy.
Professor Sunstein is author of hundreds of articles and dozens of books, including Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (with Richard H. Thaler, 2008). He is now working on a variety of projects involving the regulatory state, “sludge” (defined to include paperwork and similar burdens), fake news, and freedom of speech.
About this seminar series
New ideas, cutting-edge thinking, research evidence and expert advice are all critical for stimulating and provoking our thinking here at the Treasury. Our current guest lectures theme - Productivity in a Changing World - recognises that lifting our productivity performance continues to be central to improving New Zealanders’ wellbeing and that we are facing this challenge in the context of significant economic, social and environmental shifts. These shifts will require major changes in our economy if we are to sustain and improve our economic and productivity performance.