Sublime

The uncertainty in question will not be an accident of our circumstances — it will be entirely deliberate. We want to tempt others to engage in economic behavior, the output of which is uncertain, at the opportunity cost of behavior that is presumably much more certain. In effect, we are buying uncertainty with certainty.

Once we understand loss aversion and that many things can be framed as either gains or losses—and that the loss framework is more motivating—maybe we can reframe choices, such as how much to contribute to retirement savings, in a way that will persuade us to act in ways that are more consistent with our long-term well-being.

Can I commit the other party to norms that favor my result?

prices convey the minimal possible information necessary for economic agents to purposefully react. They do so with judgment and heuristics, not “perfect information,”

a natural way to fund public/supermodular goods without relying excessively on the limited knowledge of administrators is for such an administrator, philanthropist, or public authority to match contributions by distributed individuals.

A puzzle is a game with a dominant strategy.

clustering preserves diversity. Not demographic diversity. But informational diversity.

There is as well the option of trying to forestall the use of nuclear weapons if efforts to prevent or dissuade a country from developing them ultimately fail. This would entail trying to establish deterrence, making it clear that any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a devastating response. The problem is that deterrence cannot be guarantee

One last point: economists tend to be skeptical of any attempt to change people’s behavior that doesn’t change their incentives. For example, a plan that calls on manufacturers to reduce pollution voluntarily probably won’t be effective because it hasn’t changed manufacturers’ incentives.