The Movie Awards You've Been Waiting For
All the stars are out.
Photographer: Eric Gaillard/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Becons, in just their third year of existence, are already the most coveted of the year-end movie awards. (For those who have been on Mars, the Becons are the Behavioral Economics Oscars.) This year has been a spectacular one for movies with behavioral economics themes, and it has been unusually difficult to pick the winners. But without further ado:
Best documentary: Standard economic theory holds that people are self-interested. They care about their material well-being; they try to maximize profits. Behavioral economists have a different view. They claim that people care about fairness and about being treated fairly, and will respond to kindness with kindness. To promote fairness, they’ll even put their own well-being at risk.
