When Nudge Comes to Shove

Skeptics criticize libertarian paternalism

By EVAN R. GOLDSTEIN

Cass R. Sunstein and Richard H. Thaler present "libertarian paternalism" as a benign creed, an overdue introduction of cutting-edge behavioral and social science into the realm of policy making. They insist that giving people a psychological nudge to make socially desirable decisions is a "relatively...