Faculty Viewpoints

The future is not only the domain of economic projections. Writers have long imagined future worlds where life is a totalitarian nightmare, or hubris has led to nuclear or environmental catastrophe. While each dystopia contains unique horrors, the stories often spring from the same well — a feeling that the way we're living now is unsustainable.

James Choi describes his research into one simple way to raise participation rates in 401k plans: change the default.

We learn in kindergarten to look on the bright side. But is optimism good for us? And do we adjust our sunny expectations based on our experiences? Cade Massey, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Yale SOM, discusses his work.

Do the choices we make as consumers serve our economic interests? Do they even reflect our real preferences? Three Yale scholars discuss research — their own and others' — that sheds light on these questions.

Economics has long been used to evaluate the law. But what happens when economics gets things wrong? Law professor Christine Jolls describes the role behavioral economics can play.

Decades of economic research have assumed people pursue their goals in a rational manner, discounting the effects of emotion, bias, error, and other irrational forces. Robert Shiller argues that economists need to take a closer look at how people make decisions.

A host of studies and academic theories that apply psychological insights to economic behavior have been grouped under the label "behavioral." Is this growing field changing how the economy is studied — and how it functions?

Deborah S. Davis, a China expert and professor of sociology at Yale, discusses a wide range of issues regarding China and globalization—from the nation's growing economic power to its role in addressing worldwide environmental problems.

One problem that has come up throughout this issue is how to enforce fair rules throughout a global system when most enforcement mechanisms are nation-based. Given how powerful the forces of globalization are, do we need a new global regulator?