People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard. (Rebro...

It regulates 20 percent of the U.S. economy, and its commissioner has an aggressive agenda — faster drug approvals, healthier food, cures for diabetes and cancer. How much can he deliver? (Part two of “The Freakonomics Radio Guide to Getting Better.”) SOURCES:Marty Makary, commis ...  Show more

We all want to stay sharp, and forestall the cognitive effects of aging. But do brain supplements actually work? Are they safe? And why doesn’t the F.D.A. even know what’s in them? (Part one of “The Freakonomics Radio Guide to Getting Better.”) SOURCES:Marty Makary, commissioner ...  Show more

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and billionaires like them are treated in society as geniuses deserving of their massive wealth. After all, they created it by their own ability to identify an opportunity, gather resources, and bend reality itself through sheer willpower and an unwillingnes ...  Show more

The highest impact leaders all have one trait in common: they are extreme contrarians. They were seen by the majority as radicals, misfits and eccentrics. They saw what most see and thought what few think. They rejected the mass hypnosis and schooled brainwashing of society. T ...

The discomfort of growth is always less than the heartbreak of regret.

The highest impact leaders all have one trait in common: they are extreme contrarians. They were seen by the majority as radicals, misfits and eccentrics. They saw what most see and thought what fe ...

We don't always do what we're supposed to do. We don't save enough for retirement. We order dessert — even when we're supposed to be dieting. In other words, we misbehave. That's the title of Richard Thaler's most recent book: Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economic ...