Economists like to model people as rational creatures who make self-interested decisions. But humans don’t act that way. Why do investors, politicians and ordinary people act against their best interests – and how can they be nudged into making better decisions? To find out, FT economics commentator Chris Giles speaks to Richard Thaler, the founding father of behavioural economics. Thaler is a professor at the University of Chicago who won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on how humans make (often irrational) decisions.

On November 28, the FT will be holding a live webinar on what the UK Budget will mean for your money. Viewers will be able to put their questions to FT journalists Claer Barrett, Stuart Kirk, Tej Parikh and special guest, tax expert Dan Neidle. To sign up, get your free pass here. 

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Presented by Chris Giles. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music by Breen Turner. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Our broadcast engineer is Andrew Georgiades.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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