Chicago Tribune

Column: Economist Richard Thaler is a Nobel winner we arty types can love

Richard Thaler, the University of Chicago economist from the Booth School of Business who won the Nobel Prize last week, is an economist we cultural pontificates can love.

Why? Simple. His work embraces human irrationality.

Some of us get to write about that every day. Another word for human irrationality is art.

You can see it splattered all over the walls of our fine museums. It haunts Bruce Springsteen's lyrics. It is on view

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune4 min read
Frustrations Rise After 9 Year Old Girl Attacked By Unleashed Dog In Chicago: ‘She Was Traumatized’
CHICAGO — Nine-year-old Natalie Sieracki spent her sister’s softball game cartwheeling on the grass in Horner Park Saturday evening. She didn’t notice the large, unleashed dog nearby until it attacked her. When she broke away from the animal, she ra
Chicago Tribune7 min read
Chicago Area’s Independent Bookstores See Revival
CHICAGO — Renting out a Lincoln Park brownstone for $200 may be considered unusual, but a 300-year-old vampire who wears three-piece suits and enjoys Taylor Swift music wouldn’t know any better. After all, he has also been imprisoned in a vampire dun
Chicago Tribune3 min readAmerican Government
Measure To Create New State Agency For Childhood Services Now On Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Desk
The Illinois House on Thursday passed Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s initiative to consolidate early childhood services under a single agency, paving the way for the creation of a new state Department of Early Childhood. “We can make early childhood simpler, b

Related Books & Audiobooks