Shlomo Benartzi

Most of us spend the majority of our waking hours staring at our screens. But these digital devices can be more than distracting—they can be damaging to our lives, from our health to our wallets. Behavioral economist Shlomo Benartzi studies the way our devices influence our thoughts, behavior, and decision-making. In talks, as well as his book The Smarter Screen, he reveals how we can empower ourselves to make better financial decisions in the digital age, outlining the implications for educators, healthcare providers, retailers, and policy makers in the process.

Benartzi is a professor and co-chair of the Behavioral Decision-Making Group at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, where his research uses the insights of economics and psychology to produce positive change on a massive scale. His latest book The Smarter Screen: Surprising Ways to Influence and Improve Online Behavior (with Jonah Lehrer) shows us how we can think and behave better in the digital world, not worse.

In his viral TED Talk “Saving For Tomorrow, Tomorrow,” Benartzi uses behavioral finance to explore the psychological roadblocks that keep people from saving—and flipping them into solutions. He currently serves as chief scientist for the California Digital Nudge Initiative, helping people make better choices through key tech and behavioral insights. Millions of Americans have saved money, found college more affordable, and conserved more energy through private and public work with the digital “nudges” Benartzi engineers. He is the co-creator of the Save More Tomorrow™ program (SMarT), designed to help employees increase their savings rates over time. At one organization, SMarT increased employee savings rates from 3.5% to 13.6%. The program is now offered by more than half of the large retirement plans in the U.S. and a growing number of plans worldwide.

Benartzi actively advises government agencies in the U.S. and abroad, and has helped craft numerous legislative efforts. He has worked with financial institutions, and currently serves as an academic advisor and chief behavioral economist for the Allianz Global Investors Center for Behavioral Finance. Benartzi is the author of three books including Save More Tomorrow and Thinking Smarter, as well as a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, where he writes about the evolving world of finance. He received a Ph.D. from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management