Someone called William has contacted me via my contact page to ask about my opinions on nudge. I’m going to answer it here because the answer is relevant to people who read my wittering.
Firstly:
Is Longrider the only name you go by as I’m not finding it on this blog.
Actually, it is discoverable, but as I choose to write pseudonymously, I’m not going to actively expose it. Also, my name is irrelevant.
Now, to the question (among others, but the requisite one):
Is your objection based on the fact that the nudge is not explicit enough or that it is scaled, or that there are too few individuals privvy to the insights?
My objection is much simpler than that and it is this; the government has no place nudging anyone anywhere. The less government does, the better. Consequently my thoughts on such things as behavioural economics are neither here nor there.
Simples, eh?
Slightly sinister that ‘William’ went looking for your real name from the outset.
Maybe he’s some toryboy researcher, trying to work out how to get libertarians to join in their road to hell paving project.
I thought it curious rather than sinister, given that my identity is discoverable if you really try and not at all relevant anyway.
TT – some hope…
Well said.
Very rude to ask such a question of a blogger, methinks. If you want folk to know your real-life identity, you’ll tell them; otherwise they should just keep their curiosity to themselves.
Well it certainly wasn’t me!
I know 😉
The less government does, the better
So to take the example you gave in your previous post about ‘nudges’, you think it would be better if local authorities had not placed white lines on roads, even though this lead to a measurably dramatic reduction in accidents and injuries?