There is a fascinating thing about human beings that they can relate to any subject. One such subject is economics.

Economics as a subject is often mistaken and restricted to books only. However, when it comes to applying it practically people often get confuse.

Economics is vast and intriguing. So, it certainly contains “types”. One such type is behavioural economics.

As the name suggests, behavioural economics contains hues of psychology and economics to understand how and why people behave the way they do in the real world.

BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS HELP YOU TO CHOOSE WELL, TO CHOOSE YOUR HEART OUT

Suppose you are doing well in your life, in terms of money, in terms of a lavish lifestyle, in terms of having a perfect family and suddenly an idea of startup pops up in your mind you want to comment the things of your own now you don’t want to resume your 9 to 5 job you want to work on your own but how?

What exactly do you need?

The only thing you need is a push either internally or externally. Push in behavioural economics is a nudge.

According to Hallsworth “Nudge is about changing the presentation of choices for people so they’re more likely to choose one option rather than the other.”

Briefly, Nudge is a push that we need to choose the best of the best.

Given are the following examples where nudge is being used and you might miss to notice:-

1. It is assumed and accepted that sales contain a relationship with advertising that means the more you advertise the more sales you can pitch. But, Zara is an exceptional case here. It only spends 0.3% of sales on advertising. Never produces too many products of a single design. It creates the “fears of paucity” in the minds of the customer which makes them take quick decisions to buy their favourite designs as they know they will go out of stock soon.

And the perceived fear of something is particularly motivating as we are loss averse.

What this means is that we find losses roughly twice as painful as gains are pleasurable.

2.There is a high possibility that people will choose a medium cup of coffee/beverage/cold drink at a cafe. This is the Goldilocks Effect. In a study at a McDonald’s outlet, people were asked to choose between a range of different drink size options. Regardless of the size options offered, 80% of them always chose the medium size option. This happens because we assume the middle option is the typical option. We will always go with the option that requires less effort to think about.

3.If I say playing music can increase your sales, Shall you believe in it? You have to.

An experiment in the UK tested playing music from different countries in a wine shop. The research found that French wine easily outsold German wine when French music was playing and vice-versa.

4. Do you think that just obviating the symbol of currency can pitch your sales?

As peculiar it sounds, as interesting the application is.

Only thinking about spending money can make you experience a kind of physical pain. If you were to be put into a brain scanner right now and we played a game where you lost your money, the part of the brain that would light up is the same part that feels physical pain.

Many restaurants and cafes adapt this strategy to welcome more and more customers.

5. If I say when supermarkets double the size of trolleys, sales will increase as much as 40%?

As humans, we like to go with the flow of a default setting.

Many renowned supermarkets for example- big bazaar, apna bazaar etc adapt this very strategy to attract millions of more customers.

CONCLUSION:-

Economics carries a bigger picture when it comes to its applications. In 2018 Richard Thaler won the Nobel prize in Economic Sciences for his gargantuan contributions to behavioural economics. He quoted “A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives.”

Humans are imperfect, they make irrational decisions most of the time, they make certain errors in every walk of their life, they are more complicated than they seem.

But what exactly do they need?

They always need a nudge, a push to come out of their comfort zone and choose the best from the given opportunities (costs).

We live in a globalised world, speaking foreign languages would always be beneficial for mankind. Also learning new things or language(s) would never be waste. 

In this modernizing era, we should not limit ourselves to only one common language. The Internet has paved the way to connect with people from throughout the world. Learning a foreign language helps to improve our social skills as well as to build a new relationships with people of different cultures and heritage.

Talking about the foreign languages and schools, these two have not gone hand in hand. In India many public schools teach an extra language to its students but not as the main subject.

Should a foreign language be made the main subject in schools? 

No doubt, nowadays schools have foreign language in their syllabus. However, it starts from certain classes and is not a compulsory one. It is high time now that schools should understand the fact that foreign language is must for children in the coming days. 

The competition is exceeding day by day. Hence made it important for the youth to acquire knowledge of global languages. Global language not only enhances one’s social horizon but also gives the brain a boost.  

This foreign language opens up a path to employment opportunities. Further enables each person to stand out from the competition also make them understand the diverse culture.

Thus, the schools should step up by making foreign language compulsory in their curriculum and make students understand other’s perspectives about their own culture and traditions which will broaden their intuitive skills.

From which classes it should start?

Primary Schooling is the basic and the most important level from where all the learning starts. This is the stage from where we learn to write and read. So the appropriate level for learning a new foreign language will be from the very beginning. For understanding a new thing we try to know it from the starting so the same goes for the language. If we are learning a whole new language we should start it from the beginning.

As it is said ‘the younger the better’. This stage plays a crucial role in building and shaping a kid’s future. So teaching a new language from the primary level will consider a one step towards success in building one’s future.

Also Read- A NEW CURRICULUM ON ITS WAY: DESHBHAKTI CURRICULUM

We Indians are famous for the word ‘Deshbhakti’. A new curriculum named ‘Deshbhakti Curriculum’ is to be added in Delhi schools academics. Yes, you heard it correct. 

Last year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced to introduce this whole new curriculum in all schools from the upcoming academic year. However, couldn’t introduce amid the Covid-19 lockdown. The Deshbhakti Curriculum will provide students with basic constitutional values within the students.

DO STUDENTS NEED THIS? 

Our youth is our future. In today’s world, western culture influences our youth, they are leaving their roots behind. To adopt western culture is not wrong at all but leaving our own culture, our values are not appreciable. Hopefully, this curriculum inculcates patriotism in students. 

The word Patriotism does not only mean singing patriotic songs, performing dance on a patriotic theme. It means to respect our country, value our culture. It will be achieved with this curriculum. 

The major aim of the Deshbhakti curriculum is to teach students their responsibility towards their nation. To further facilitate them towards nation-building.

“The curriculum is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The major focus is to make students responsible citizens who contribute to nation-building and have pride in their country. The curriculum aims to ensure that the students are aware of their responsibilities towards the country and develop an appreciation for constitutional values, fundamental rights and imbibe the responsibility of being an Indian and are ready to sacrifice for the country,” the official added 

[THE INDIAN EXPRESS]

IMPORTANCE OF THIS NEW CURRICULUM:

Quality education means providing the students with the best education. Teaching them the aspects of education to make them global students. But the students are more interested in serving the other country than their own. 

Today, students are more into serving the developed countries which becomes their new agenda. Leaving your country behind is never the objective of public education. Having this new curriculum might solve the ‘brain drain’ problem. 

Many nations, such as South Korea and the United Kingdom, have been able to retain students in the country by having such a curriculum or mandatory military tenure for students. Singapore has a policy of waiving off tuition fees of meritorious Indian students if they work there for twice the duration of their course.

[THE INDIAN EXPRESS]

Delhi government’s step is appreciable. However, this should have been introduced much before. Our kids need to learn more about our culture, about all the sacrifices of our brave soldiers and leaders. Children are more likely to adopt things at a tender age. So, the feeling of patriotism is within from the very beginning. Conclusively, ‘Better late than never’ 

Also, read| Two men arrested for threatening attack on the JNU campus on Independence Day