Abstract
At its best, economics can help policy-makers to design policies that resolve a wide range of economic and financial problems, for individuals and economies as a whole. ‘Economic behaviour and public policy’ explores some key insights and evidence from behavioural public policy, particularly microeconomic policy. Instead of examining market failures, behavioural public policy looks at behaviour change—changing the way that people make their everyday decisions and choices by nudging them towards more efficient and productive decision-making. The future for behavioural public policy is promising. Policy-makers need to look carefully at how policies based around behavioural insights can be used to complement rather than replace conventional economic policy instruments.
