Richard Thaler in his book with Cass Sunstein discusses small interventions that policy-makers or firms can make to 'nudge' citizens / customers. Thaler discusses his key insights into human behaviour and public policy in the 18-minute video below. One example he discusses is the Urinal Fly firm which came up with the idea of painting a fly unto urinals in order to keep public bathrooms cleaner by reducing spillage by 85%!
My colleague and former PhD student Gareth Campbell has created a website about the British Railway Mania - click here . This episode has been described by the Economist as probably the greatest bubble in human history. Gareth's website provides background on the Mania and posits some explanations for the 'bubble'. In his explanation of why the bubble happened, Gareth places a lot of emphasis on investor myopia regarding future dividends and uncalled capital. His study of investors during the episode does not support the view that this episode was fuelled by naive and irrational investors.