Should government "nudge" citizens to do what is in their self-interest? In his latest column, David Brooks runs through the arguments for and against "libertarian paternalism," summing them up as ...

Granted, it's easy to go overboard, and some of the restrictions in this vein--like waiting periods--can be overly burdensome, depending on the specifics. But simply requiring women be offered the ...

It is common for economists and neoliberals to argue for the use of relatively unrestricted vouchers in lieu of in-kind or highly circumscribed welfare payments. The rationale is that more choices ...

In these political times, populism is creeping towards paternalism, and the Italian “Third Republic’s” new basic income scheme is the latest example. Nevertheless, it’s not through the benevolence of ...

Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, who advocates "libertarian paternalism" in his book Nudge (co-authored by University of Chicago economist Richard Thaler), worries about the consequences of ...

The Manipulation of Choice: Ethics and Libertarian Paternalism, by Mark D. White, Palgrave Macmillian, 150 pages, $19.98. Selling a big gulp Dr. Pepper can land you in court, but a Diet Coke is just ...

If you’ve had the fortune to take 20th-century Japanese history with professor Sheldon Garon, however, the word “paternalism” takes another shade of meaning. At its best, paternalism involves an ...

What do paternalism and clemency for sex abusers have in common? The answer seems obvious: a worldview that values male dominance does not wish to shine light on the fact that a certain percentage of ...

Employees today face inflating health care costs, stubborn gender pay gaps and rising student loan debt, among many other challenges that have the power to derail their financial lives. At the same ...

Steve Sailer links to a Felix Salmon blog post about IQ and investing for retirement. Salmon: The distribution is clear: the smarter you are (as measured by IQ), the more likely you are to be invested ...