Born on March 5th, 1934, Daniel Kahneman is an
Israeli economist known for his contributions to the field of behavioral
economics. Kahneman spent his early life in Paris, France with his parents who
had emigrated from Lithuania. Kahneman and his family fled to British Mandatory
Palestine (prior to the creation of the state of Israel) during the Nazi
occupation of France during World War II. He graduated from the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem in 1954 with degrees in both psychology and
mathematics. Following several years of military service, he attended the
University of California at Berkeley, wherein he received his PhD in
psychology.
Kahneman began his career as a professor of cognitive psychology.
His years as a psychology lecture gave him a large breadth of knowledge in the
general fields of judgement and decision-making. This knowledge influenced his
transition to the field of behavioral economics. Kahneman influenced a new
economic school of thought pertaining to a “positive theory of consumer choice”.
This theory is largely rooted in the idea that humans pursue “life satisfaction”;
by trying to achieve goals and meet certain social expectations, humans move
the economy forward. He explored how factors like hedonistic human behavior can
effectively move the economy forward.
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