23 Sendhil Mullainathan Quotes for You to Enjoy

Sendhil Mullainathan

American Economist

Born: 1972

Few People Time Will Work You

Related authors: Alan Greenspan Herbert A. Simon John Kenneth Galbraith Milton Friedman Paul A. Volcker Richard Thaler Robert Reich Thomas Sowell

January is always a good month for behavioral economics: Few things illustrate self-control as vividly as New Year's resolutions. February is even better, though, because it lets us study why so many of those resolutions are broken. Sendhil Mullainathan

Good Broken Better Economics Year Few Month Those Though Vividly February Study Self-Control New Because Always Behavioral Few Things January Us Many Even Lets Why Illustrate Things Resolutions

The problem with data is that it says a lot, but it also says nothing. 'Big data' is terrific, but it's usually thin. To understand why something is happening, we have to engage in both forensics and guess work. Sendhil Mullainathan

Work Problem Big Nothing Guess Says Something Data Both Also Terrific Understand Forensics Lot The Problem With Happening Engage Why Thin

As a researcher, every once in a while you encounter something a little disconcerting. And this is something that changes your understanding of the world around you, and teaches you that you're very wrong about something that you really believed firmly in. Sendhil Mullainathan

The amount of resources we put in are disparate. We put billions of dollars into fuel-efficient technologies. How much are we putting into energy behavior change in a credible, systematic, testing way? Sendhil Mullainathan

It's 2014, and women are still paid less than men. Does this suggest that a gender pay gap is an unfortunately permanent fixture? Will it still be with us in 50 years? I would predict yes. But by that point, it will be men who will be earning less than women. Sendhil Mullainathan

Task switching is hard because we do not control what is on our mind. Despite our efforts, the original task continues to occupy our mental bandwidth. Although we can control where our time goes, we cannot fully control how our bandwidth is allocated. Sendhil Mullainathan

Time Mind Control Despite Our We Cannot Our Time Mental Allocated Although Because Occupy How Task Bandwidth Efforts Goes Where Cannot Hard Fully Original Switching

If someone who is poor says, 'I may not have much money, but for me, what's really important is to have a good television so my family can enjoy and watch,' we should be a little careful and recognize that just like we all have individual liberty to make the choices we want, that we not judge too much on that. Sendhil Mullainathan

Good Family Me Judge Money Liberty Too Much Important Enjoy Too Says Television Recognize Someone Individual Individual Liberty Like Make May Just Want Little Poor Much Really Choices Should Who Watch Careful

No one would say, 'Hey, I think this medicine works, go ahead and use it.' We have testing, we go to the lab, we try it again, we have refinement. But you know what we do on the last mile? 'Oh, this is a good idea. People will like this. Let's put it out there.' Sendhil Mullainathan

Good You People Try Will Think Medicine Hey Say Out Would No-One Put Idea Like Know Go Testing Lab Refinement Oh Again Mile Use Works Last Good Idea

Marketing is selling an ad to a firm. So, in some sense, a lot of marketing is about convincing a CEO, 'This is a good ad campaign.' So, there is a little bit of slippage there. That's just a caveat. That's different from actually having an effective ad campaign. Sendhil Mullainathan

Busy people all make the same mistake: they assume they are short on time, which of course, they are. But time is not their only scarce resource. They are also short on bandwidth. By bandwidth I mean basic cognitive resources - psychologists call them working memory and executive control - that we use in nearly every activity. Sendhil Mullainathan

Time Memory Mistake People Control Busy Every Assume Resource Resources Scarce Only Also Executive Make Call Course Bandwidth Same Short Psychologists Which Mean Them Working Use Activity Nearly Basic Cognitive

Time can be dissected easily: an hour can be cut up in many ways. Fifteen minutes on this memo, a five-minute walk to another meeting, 30 minutes at that meeting and then 10 minutes debriefing. Oh, and maybe a quick phone call on the walk to that meeting. The busy are expert at dissection: that's how they make it all fit. Sendhil Mullainathan

Time Phone Walk Busy Meeting Ways Phone Call Easily Memo Minutes Hour Make Call Another How Fit Up Quick Five-Minute Maybe Oh Expert Cut Fifteen Fifteen Minutes Then Many Dissected

It's hard to get people to empathize with the poor. You can get some people to sympathize with the poor, but to empathize is actually very hard, because most people are not poor. I realized that scarcity gives you a thread. Sendhil Mullainathan

You People Some People Sympathize Thread Scarcity Some Gives Empathize Most Because Very Get Poor Realized Hard Actually

Economists specialize in pointing out unpleasant trade-offs - a skill that is on full display in the health care debate. We want patients to receive the best care available. We also want consumers to pay less. And we don't want to bankrupt the government or private insurers. Something must give. Sendhil Mullainathan

Government Best Health Debate Care Pay Out Must Unpleasant Give Something Pointing Consumers Economists Also Health Care Private Patients Bankrupt Want Available Skill Full Less Display Specialize Receive

A few drugs - such as beta-blockers, statins and glycogen control medications - have proved very effective at managing hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Most insurance plans charge something for them. Why not make drugs like these free? Not for everyone, but just the groups for whom they are provably effective. Sendhil Mullainathan

Heart Diabetes Free Few Control Everyone Strokes Charge Something Like Most Make Insurance Proved Effective Heart Disease Very Disease Managing Just Them Plans Groups Whom Why Why Not Medications

I worry about growing income inequality. But I worry even more that the discussion is too narrowly focused. I worry that our outrage at the top 1 percent is distracting us from the problem that we should really care about: how to create opportunities and ensure a reasonable standard of living for the bottom 20 percent. Sendhil Mullainathan

Problem Opportunities Care Living Too Our Worry Top Ensure Focused Distracting About Percent More Outrage Bottom Inequality How Narrowly Discussion Us Create Really Should Standard Reasonable Even Growing Income Income Inequality

We should try to ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to find a great life. It's a quest that will require political will and ingenious policies. President Obama's proposed expansion of the earned-income tax credit goes in this direction, but we need more. Sendhil Mullainathan

Life Great Political Opportunity Try Will President Everyone Ensure Obama Find Great Life Direction More Proposed Fair Policies Quest Expansion Goes Tax Ingenious Require Should Credit Need

You can get pictures into what people are sort of thinking about others. Just go onto Google and type 'Why are Indians' and then look for the autocomplete. Sendhil Mullainathan

You People Google Thinking Others Type Indians About Onto Pictures Look Sort Go Get Just Then Why

People go shopping, we spend on so many things, and we just don't know. We don't know the prices of things. But gasoline, even when you're not buying, it's staring you in the face. Psychologists call this 'salience.' Sendhil Mullainathan

You People Shopping Face Spend Prices Know Call Go Just Psychologists Many Even Staring Things Buying Gasoline

Things that price at $4.99 sell very differently than things that price at $5. Sendhil Mullainathan

Price Sell Very Than Differently Things

If women's choices - such as taking time off to rear children - make them less productive in the economy, does adolescent boys' behavior in school make them even less so, because they are missing the educational potential of their formative years? Sendhil Mullainathan

Time Women School Behavior Adolescent Potential Taking Taking Time Missing Economy Make Because Boy Does Educational Years Off Children Formative Them Choices Rear Productive Less Even

Faced with a time shortage, we squeeze tasks into the nooks and crannies of our calendar, leaving less and less time to switch between them. As a result, we become less and less productive exactly when we need to be most productive. Sendhil Mullainathan

Time Result Become Our Exactly Faced Between Most Calendar Leaving Squeeze Tasks Shortage Them Productive Less Less Time Switch Need

Eat better or work out more, and you'll see the benefits weeks, months or years down the road. Sleep more, and you'll see the benefits tomorrow. Sendhil Mullainathan

Work You Benefits Better Tomorrow Down Months Out See Eat More Weeks Road Years Work Out Down The Road Sleep

Organizations talk about spending their lives firefighting - dealing with the next problem without having the bandwidth to deal with what is down the pipeline. I think most of the poor have that problem. Sendhil Mullainathan

Problem Down Think Spending About Having Most Talk Without Deal Dealing Pipeline Bandwidth Poor Next Organizations Lives

Sendhil Mullainathan Quotes

No more Sendhil Mullainathan quotes