Mohamed is an economics major, and as I look uncomprehendingly at his texts and assignments, I'm struck by how much analysis depends on mathematical modeling.  This standard, traditional view relies on the theory of the rational man: the belief that in making economic decisions, people are basically rational and try to maximize gains and minimize losses.  Even if not everyone is completely rational, in the aggregate people are.  Recently, however, the model has been challenged by social economists, who argue that significant economic decisions are influenced by numerous non-logical factors and thus that no purely mathematical model will be indicative of how the economy will behave.

I first came across this new approach in Dan Ariely's book Predictably Irrational.  Ariely, an Israeli socio-economist, lists a variety of ways in which economic man is influenced by non-rational factors and gives case studies for each of his points.  It's clearly written and fascinating to read.  I borrowed one of Ariely's examples for use in my composition classes.  Although I think students write as well as they did 45 years ago when I started teaching (better even), one problem I encountered in the last years of teaching was increasing plagiarism.  With Internet resources so easily available, the temptation to "borrow" a paragraph (or more) here and there was just too strong for many students.  Of course, it was increasingly easy to find the plagiarism--no more going to the library and searching through books and articles.  I had students who left the URL on their paper, and many students who copied-and-pasted and didn't bother to change the font to match the rest of the essay.  My Ariely-inspired solution was to require that every essay, word processed as they were, concluded with a handwritten, signed, and dated statement that began, "I swear that . . ."  Rationally, one would think that if a student was willing to steal a paper, s/he wouldn't have any problems writing the statement.  Instead, the students simply couldn't sign their name to a lie, and plagiarism was reduced dramatically.  Irrational, but predictable.

Cass Sunnstein, a legal and political philosopher, has recently ventured into socio-economics.  His new book advocating what he calls "libertarian paternalism" is Simpler: The Future of Government.  But his previous book, Nudge, is the one that brought him to the attention of the general public, especially via numerous talk show appearances.  As a libertarian (an awfully slippery word), he disapproves of most government mandates and prohibitions.  As a paternalist, however, he believes that people often act irrationally and that the government's job is to provide 'nudges' to encourage more efficient behavior.  Perhaps the most important category of nudges is one which, while still allowing for freedom of choice, requires people to opt out of programs--health care, retirement plans--rather than to opt in.  Given the failure of most people either to have sufficient information or to process the information they do have (and the vast amounts of money spent by interest groups to make sure that it is their interests that are protected), inertia usually wins out and people don't take the initiative to opt out--indecision working toward their benefit.

The field of socio-economics hasn't worked its way into most curricula yet, and it doesn't have the scientific air of mathematical models, yet it seems to me a much more realistic view of human behavior than the traditional methods.  Attractive as nudges might be as a policy tactic, however, they don't really address, let alone tackle, the enormous systemic problems that are destroying the American middle class and further enriching the already enriched.