Behavioral Grooves Podcast Why Rational People Make Irrational Choices | Alex Imas
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Jan 26, 2026 
Alex Imas, behavioral economist and co-author of The Winner’s Curse, explains why smart people make predictably bad choices. He discusses the winner’s curse, loss aversion, auctions, and how biases shape markets and policy. He also explores attention, tech exploitation of bias, constructed preferences, and why no single behavioral theory fits all situations.
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Verify Surprising Findings Yourself
- Replicate original experiments yourself using provided protocols before accepting surprising claims.
- Use the book's appendix, slides, and teaching notes to run classroom replications.
Loss Aversion Comes From Narrow Evaluation
- Loss aversion arises because people evaluate gambles in isolation, not over lifetime wealth.
- Losses loom larger than gains, so small gambles can be rejected despite positive expected value.
Targeting Amplifies Exploitation Risks
- Big-data targeting lets firms exploit behavioral biases by personalizing prices and interfaces.
- Price discrimination and tailored design amplify welfare risks compared with mass-market strategies.
