Read by Barack Obama, Sam Altman, Ray Dalio and 14 others
What books does Richard Thaler recommend?
Richard Thaler won the Nobel Prize for showing that people don't behave as rational economic actors, and his book recommendations carry that same skeptical curiosity about how we actually decide. The 12 titles here surface mostly from his Twitter posts across more than a decade, alongside several book blurbs and reviews. Psychology and human behavior leads, unsurprisingly, with business and economics close behind. His clearest endorsement is Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, which he called "the book of the year." He is generous with the Heath brothers, praising both Switch and Decisive, and he reaches beyond his field for pleasure: he calls Joseph Heller's Catch-22 "one of my all-time favs," awarding the audiobook "5 stars" for feeling undated.
Last updated February 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
byDaniel Kahneman
2011498 Pages“Kahneman's Thinking Fast and Slow is the book of the year.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Twitter post, December 2011
Read by Chip Wilson, Richard Thaler, Stephen King and 1 others
byJoseph Heller
1961453 Pages“So I decided to listen to the audio book of Catch 22, one of my all-time favs. The narrator @JayOSanders is superb and the book feels undated. 5 stars.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Twitter post, July 2021
Read by Ray Dalio, Satya Nadella, Richard Thaler and 1 others
byReed Hastings, Erin Meyer
2020320 Pages“As far as I can tell almost everything they do at Netflix is smart. I loved his book No Rules Rules.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Twitter post, December 2020
Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away
The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away
byAnnie Duke
2022336 Pages“Quit what you are doing right now and read this.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Book Blurb
Read by Richard Thaler
Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much
Why Having Too Little Means So Much
bySendhil Mullainathan, Eldar Shafir
2013304 Pages“Read this book to learn the surprising ways in which scarcity affects us all.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Book Blurb
The Design of Everyday Things
Revised and Expanded Edition
byDon Norman
2013368 Pages“Don Norman's book was a huge Nudge inspiration.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Twitter post, May 2015
The Undoing Project
A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
byMichael Lewis
2016368 Pages“Michael Lewis has a great new book out today. I am talking with him about it at the NY Public Library tonight.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Twitter post, December 2016
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
byMichael Lewis
2003288 Pages“Lewis's tale has a lot to tell us about blunders and confusions in many other domains... worth the attention also of people who do not know the difference between a slider and a screwball.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: The New Republic review, 2003
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
byChip Heath, Dan Heath
2010320 Pages“Just finished 'Switch' by the Heath brothers. Highly recommended for anyone interested in change.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Twitter post, May 2010
Decisive
How to Make Better Decisions in Life and Work
byChip Heath, Dan Heath
2013336 Pages“The Heath brothers have a new book Decisive. It is very good. Read it.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Twitter post, March 2013
Read by Richard Thaler
Pre-Suasion
A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
byRobert Cialdini
2016432 Pages“Bob Cialdini has a new book out today: Pre-suasion. I recommend it.”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Twitter post, September 2016
Read by Richard Thaler
Policy and Choice: Public Finance through the Lens of Behavioral Economics
Public Finance through the Lens of Behavioral Economics
byWilliam J. Congdon, Jeffrey R. Kling, Sendhil Mullainathan
2011247 Pages“If you are a public finance scholar or practitioner you need to read this book right now; don't procrastinate!”
— Richard Thaler
Source: Book Blurb
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Richard Thaler recommend?
His 12 recommendations include Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer, Quit by Annie Duke, and The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis.
What is Richard Thaler's most recommended book?
Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, which Thaler flatly called "the book of the year" in a 2011 post. Kahneman was his longtime collaborator and intellectual influence.
Has Richard Thaler written any books?
Yes, four in the data: Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics (2015), Nudge: The Final Edition (2021), Quasi Rational Economics (1991), and Advances in Behavioral Finance (1993).
Does Richard Thaler recommend any fiction?
Yes. He calls Joseph Heller's Catch-22 "one of my all-time favs," praising the audiobook narration and awarding it "5 stars" for a book that "feels undated."
Where do Richard Thaler's book recommendations come from?
They come largely from his Twitter posts spanning 2010 to 2021, plus book blurbs he has written and a New Republic review of Michael Lewis's Moneyball.
All 12 Books Richard Thaler Has Recommended
- Thinking, Fast and Slow · Daniel Kahneman
- Catch-22 · Joseph Heller
- No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention · Reed Hastings
- Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away · Annie Duke
- Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much · Sendhil Mullainathan
- The Design of Everyday Things · Don Norman
- The Undoing Project · Michael Lewis
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game · Michael Lewis
- Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard · Chip Heath
- Decisive · Chip Heath
- Pre-Suasion · Robert Cialdini
- Policy and Choice: Public Finance through the Lens of Behavioral Economics · William J. Congdon