Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2019
We summarize the arguments against behavioral paternalism laid out in the preceding chapters. Common threads that unify these lines of argument include: the complexity of inclusive rationality, the indeterminacy of paternalistic welfare criteria, the role of incentives and learning, and the rush to policy. We then consider a range of “escape routes” or defenses of behavioral paternalism, including: reverting to objective-welfare paternalism, appealing to obviousness, shifting the burden of proof, loosening the definition of paternalism, relying on the “libertarian condition,” invoking the inevitability of choice architecture, focusing on the irrational subset of the population, relying on extreme cases, treating behavioral paternalism as a toolbox, and invoking fiscal externalities. We conclude with a series of recommendations: replacing neoclassical (puppet) rationality with inclusive rationality, rejecting the paternalism-generating framework, having reasonable expectations of policymakers, and maintaining important distinctions such as public vs. private and coercive vs. voluntary interventions.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.