Why do successful people get things done at the last minute? Why does poverty persist? Why do organizations get stuck putting out fires? Why do the lonely find it hard to make friends? These seemingly unconnected questions are surprisingly joined by a single psychology of scarcity. The research in our book shows how scarcity–of any kind–creates its own mindset. Understanding this mindset helps illuminate behavior in nearly every walk of life.

Sendhil Mullainathan is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University and Founder of ideas42, a non-profit organization devoted to taking insights about people from behavioral economics and using it to create novel policies, interventions, and products.  He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Founding Member of the Poverty Action Lab, and a Board Member of the Bureau of Research in the Economic Analysis of Development.  He is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation ‘genius grant.’  He has recently been appointed Assistant Director of Research at the U.S. Treasury’s newly minted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Professor Mullainathan conducts research on development economics, behavioral economics, and corporate finance.  He has published extensively in top economics journals including the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Journal of Political Economy.  In addition to being a MacArthur Fellow, Mullainathan is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including those from the National Science Foundation, the Olin Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation.