In this edition of our Professor Profiles, we’re taking a look at two professors from Chicago Booth: Richard Thaler and Austan Goolsbee.
Richard Thaler
Richard H. Thaler is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor at Chicago Booth, teaching Behavioral Science and Economics. He is also the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics.
Thaler has been part of Chicago’s faculty since 1995. Before that he taught at the University of Rochester, Cornell University, The University of British Columbia, the Sloan School of Management at MIT, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. In 2015, Thaler held the position of the President of the American Economic Association.
He himself completed a bachelor’s degree at Case Western Reserve University, and both a master’s degree and a PhD at the University of Rochester.
Thaler is currently a Fellow of the American Finance Association and the Econometrics Society, and a member of both the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Alongside co-author Cass R. Sunstein, Thaler published “Nudge” in 2008, a book which applied behavioral economics to the major problems of our society. The book was a global bestseller.
Subsequent publications from Thaler include “Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics,” “Quasi-Rational Economics,” “The Winner’s Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life,” and “Advances in Behavioral Finance (editor) Volumes I and II.”
Thaler’s pioneering research focuses on behavioral economics, finance, and the psychology of decision making. His research asks the question: what would happen if we stepped away from the “standard economic assumption that everyone in the economy is rational and selfish,” and instead assumed that some were, in fact, “human?”
Thaler as Teacher
Thaler’s teaching style at Booth is praised for the same reason as his research: his “ability to spot anomalies, tell stories, and share credit for his successes.” His focus lies on maximizing what students remember not just at the time of their exams, but years later, well into their careers. Students who stayed in touch with Thaler reported back that many of those lessons remained stuck in their minds not just years later, but decades.
His wry analysis of his students can be summarized in an anecdote that he shared with Booth’s magazine: where, upon switching the name of a badly-attended course, enrolment doubled.
“Thaler asked his students how many chose the course based on the name. “No one said yes,” he remembered. “I said, ‘Half of you are wrong.””
Thaler can be found on Google Scholar, on X, and on his author page.
Austan Goolsbee
Austan D. Goolsbee is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth. He has been part of Booth’s faculty since 1995. His classes focus on microeconomics, platform competition, and the economics and policy of the telecom, media, and technology industries.
Austan’s career before Booth is extensive and impressive, encompassing appointments in the President’s cabinet and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. His research has gained him international recognition: as a Fulbright Scholar, as an Alfred P. Sloan fellow, as one of the World Economic Forum’s 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow, and as one of the Financial Times’ six “Gurus of the Future.”
Goolsbee holds both a BA and an MA from Yale and a PhD from MIT.
As well as being a current member of the Economic Advisory Panel to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Goolsbee has also previously served on the Panel of Economic Advisors to the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. Census Advisory Commission and acted as a special consultant for Internet Policy to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice.
Goolsbee’s research focuses on taxes and government policy, inflation, and the internet. Along with co-author Pete Klenow, he developed a comprehensive measure of online inflation: the Adobe Digital Price Index.
Multiple journals have published his articles, including “What Happens When You Tax the Rich? Evidence from Executive Compensation” and “Does the Internet Make Markets More Competitive? Evidence from the Life Insurance Industry.”
Goolsbee’s Media Presence
Outside of — or rather, in addition to — his research, Goolsbee’s clear and accessible communication has made him something of a media icon. BusinessWeek has twice awarded him the title of “star” professor and he was named “D.C.’s Funniest Celebrity” in 2009; accomplishments that no doubt inform his popularity as a teacher, too.
And his presence in the media doesn’t stop there; while serving as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during Obama’s first term, Goolsbee became known for his appearances on Fox News, where he struck up rapport with the controversial Sean Hannity, offering a balanced and rational counter to his arguments.
Goolsbee can be found on Google Scholar and on LinkedIn.
