korrents
Brad DeLong

What Brad DeLong thinks about behavioural science

@brad-delong · 59 positions · 0 changes of mind

Economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury. Author of Slouching Towards Utopia and writer of the Grasping Reality newsletter.

Everything they publish, on ppll ↗

Brad DeLong did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

5 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Brad DeLong has said — not written or endorsed by them.

The line under a date shows how recently it was said: empty within a month, full after three years.

  1. Our readingThe world coheres because people follow scripts for different roles

    Their wordsRole theory’s functionalist strand tells us that society coheres because a bank teller, a teacher, a patient each come with a script, and so most encounters need no negotiation.

    ↗Sharding the Self: Ben Thompson & FaceBook’s Muse Agentic System: THURSDAY THAUMATURGYbraddelong.substack.com

  2. 4 days earlier

  3. Our readingThe abundance of information in the modern era requires new habits of mind and institutions to process it effectively, as traditional methods of scarcity no longer apply.

    Their wordsBut we have not yet built the habits of mind, or the institutions, appropriate to its successor. We are like the first generation of factory workers who still tried to farm on Sundays: our reflexes were formed for a régime of scarcity, and they misfire badly in a régime of superabundance.

    ↗Did a Fat, Laughing Barbarian General Divert the Industrial Revolution Away from China a Thousand Years After His Death?braddelong.substack.com

  4. 2 days earlier

  5. Our readingThe coffeehouse provides stimulation without overwhelming attention.

    Their wordsThe café supplies enough stimulation to keep the vigilance system idling, but not so much that it captures you.

    ↗Sana’a Café: Dwight & Telegraph: FRIDAY FOG & FLATLANDSbraddelong.substack.com

  7. Our readingCoffeehouses are an efficient bundle of social and cognitive benefits.

    Their wordsCoffeehouses are an efficient bundling of: a legitimate reason to leave the house; a socially sanctioned excuse to be idle in public while your back-brain works; a stimulant delivered in a ritual that paces its consumption; and a nonzero probability of a useful accidental encounter.

    ↗Sana’a Café: Dwight & Telegraph: FRIDAY FOG & FLATLANDSbraddelong.substack.com

  8. 5 days earlier

  9. Our readingMuch disagreement is genuinely rooted in conflicting values or contested facts, not merely a lack of institutional standing for evidence.

    Their wordsDisagreement is, often, genuinely about values or truly contested facts.

    ↗CROSSPOST: NICHOLAS GRUEN: Hobbes on Spin & Bullshitbraddelong.substack.com 3rd of 3 in this piece

How recent

The line under a date fills as the words age, a quarter at a time: past a month, six months, a year, and three years. Empty means said within the last month; full, more than three years ago. It says when, not whether it still holds — a change of mind is marked on the claim itself.

Dashed means we only know the words existed by that date; they may be older.