Page 87 - JSOM Winter 2017

governments to pay more attention to economics, was awarded
the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
“Professor Thaler is the rare economist to win a measure of
(continued from page 6)
fame before winning the prize. He is an author of a best-selling
see the complete article from The Economist, 12 May 2017, book, Nudge, about helping people to make better decisions.
https://www.economist.com/news/international/21730145- He also appeared in the 2015 film ‘The Big Short,’ delivering
civilian-doctors-are-saving-more-lives-after-terrorist-attacks- what is surely one of the most widely viewed tutorials in the
copying-their-military) history of economics, on the causes of the 2008 financial crisis.
“The Nobel committee, announcing the award in Stockholm,
■ ■ ■ said that it was honoring Professor Thaler for his pioneering
work in establishing that people are predictably irrational—
Retired Military Dogs Recognized for Their Service that they consistently behave in ways that defy economic the-

Hundreds of military dogs are deployed overseas to help ory. People will refuse to pay more for an umbrella during a
the United States military. Many put themselves in harm’s rainstorm; they will use the savings from lower gas prices to
way to protect the men and women who follow them into buy premium gasoline; they will offer to buy a coffee mug for
combat. Five canine veterans will receive the American Hu- $3 and refuse to sell it for $6.
mane Lois Pope K9 Medal of Courage Award in honor of “The committee credited Professor Thaler, who teaches at the
their service. Chip Reid reported on 11 October 2017 in a University of Chicago Booth School of Business, for moving
“CBS This Morning” video: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos economics toward a more realistic understanding of human
/retired-military-dogs-recognized-for-their-service/ behavior, and for using the resulting insights to improve public
policies, notably a sweeping shift toward the automatic enroll-
■ ■ ■ ment of employees in retirement savings programs.

Out of the Crucible “‘In order to do good economics, you have to keep in mind
Published by the Borden Institute, Out of the Crucible: How that people are human,’ Professor Thaler said at a news con-
the US Military Transformed Combat Casualty Care in Iraq ference after the announcement.
and Afghanistan is a compilation of chapters, essays, figures, “‘Thaler more than anyone has disciplined the idea of ani-
and photographs that describe to the American public and mal spirits,’ said Cass Sunstein, a Harvard law professor who
policymakers the remarkable transformations in care devised wrote Nudge with Professor Thaler. The 2008 book argued
by ingenious MHS problem-solvers during OEF/OIF. If you that governments could use behavioral insights to improve the
are currently active duty, this book is available for free (http:// efficiency and quality of a wide range of public services. Two
www.cs.amedd.army.mil/borden/). years later, the British government created a department to
pursue the experiment. Other countries, including the United
Written by more than 100 contributing authors, the book States, followed suit.”
makes the case for why we need a strong and adaptable MHS,
including education and research, to meet the challenges of Thaler’s career was shaped by his discovery of the work of
the future. Professor Kahneman and his longtime collaborator, Amos
Tversky, who were advancing the idea that economics needed
Chapter 10, “Battlefield Tourniquets,” is written by John F. to grapple with actual human behavior. Professor Thaler be-
Kragh Jr, MD, and John B. Holcomb, MD. came their collaborator and played a central role in bringing
the work into the economic mainstream.
Figure 10.1 The standard tourniquets issued at the start of OEF
and OIF were ineffective. Most employed an inadequate “strap and ■ ■ ■
buckle” design dating back to World War II. Photographs courtesy
of Francis S. Trachta, Army Medical Department Museum, Fort Sam
Houston, TX. The Death of the Golden Hour and the
Return of the Future Guerrilla Hospital
By Warner D. “Rocky” Farr, JSOU Report 17-10, available at
http://jsou.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=37706446

“Colonel Warner “Rocky” Farr . . . advances the understand-
ing of the many challenges and accomplishments related to
guerrilla warfare medicine.
. . . Colonel Farr relates many
historical experiences in the
field, assesses their effective-
ness, and lays a foundation
for further in-depth study of
■ ■ ■
the subject. The Joint Spe-
cial Operations University is
Nobel in Economics Is Awarded to Richard Thaler
pleased to offer this mono-
By Binyamin Appelbaum, 9 October 2017, Washington graph as a means of providing . . . a greater understanding
“Richard H. Thaler, whose work has persuaded many econ- of the complex and complicated field of guerrilla warfare
omists to pay more attention to human behavior, and many medicine.”

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