On Freedom

Cass Sunstein is a behavioural economist at Harvard whose book on digital democracy I reviewed last year as well as his earlier work Nudge. Here he returns to the theme of nudging in policy formulation within a framework involving freedom of choice and self-control. A key new concept is navigability in terms of how people reach their desired destination - it is here that nudges can form a kind of GPS with our well-being in mind. The author presents a variety of case histories for consideration and defines the central goal of nudging as making people better off, as judged by themselves - a critical qualification. Advice in this sense needs to be easy to understand and act upon, and an interesting case in point is the transformation of American nutritional advice from a pyramid metaphor to proportions on a square plate. Time also plays an important role as our views evolve. For policymakers, the question is how best to present what the author calls the 'choice architecture' of possibilities while respecting the freedom and dignity of the individual. The argument is clearly articulated and raises important ethical and economic issues.