“My thesis topic was 'The value of a human life.' I asked people a question: 'Suppose you had some risk, a one in a thousand risk of dying - how much would you pay to eliminate it?'”

American economist, behavioral scientist

Richard H. Thaler is an American economist and behavioral scientist. He is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and he served as president of the American Economic Association in 2015. Thaler is known for his work in behavioral economics, a field that examines how real people make economic decisions, often in ways that depart from standard theory. His writing and scholarship helped bring attention to the role of psychology in economic life and to the choices people make in markets, institutions, and everyday decisions.