Nudge theory has had a pretty good run. Ever since it was first set out by behavioural economist Richard Thaler and law professor Cass Sunstein in their 2008 book Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness, it has progressively caught the attention first of readers – selling more than two million copies – then of politicians and governments. Former US president Barack Obama and former prime minister David Cameron set up “nudge units” tasked with turning the theory into practice.
As Simon Ruda, a co-founder of the Downing Street unit, pointed out in an essay last year for UnHerd, the revolutionary fervour soon spread. An initial team of seven was established in Number 10 during Cameron’s reign. By 2021, there were more than 400 such units globally. Downing Street’s team was “spun out” of government in 2014, and became a for-profit company selling its services to the public sector and any other government or organisation “seeking to improve people’s lives”. The original team of seven grew organically to more than 250 people