Richard Jay Zeckhauser (born 1940) is an American

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and the

Frank P. Ramsey Frank Plumpton Ramsey (; 22 February 1903 – 19 January 1930) was a British people, British philosopher, mathematician, and economist who made major contributions to all three fields before his death at the age of 26. He was a close friend of ...

Professor of

Political Economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Life

Zeckhauser holds a B.A., ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', and a Ph.D. in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from

. Early in his career, he was one of the " whiz kids" assembled by Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara to apply cutting-edge analysis to

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

military strategy. He is married to Sally H. Zeckhauser. He is the author or co-author of many books and over 300 peer-reviewed articles. His most significant works focus on risk management, decision sciences, investment, and policy-making under uncertainty. Zeckhauser introduced the term "ignorance" into decision-making under uncertainty, as in: there's "risk", "uncertainty", and outright "ignorance". His most recent book, with Peter Schuck, is ''Targeting in Social Programs.'' The book examines how and why to deploy scarce public resources to solve public problems. While he holds no formal office, he has long been an informal leader at Harvard Kennedy School and at Harvard. He was also an affiliated expert at Analysis Group. In 1994, he was elected to the

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon ...

National Governing Board.

Bridge career

Zeckhauser is a champion

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

player.

Wins

North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual contract bridge, bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November fo ...

(2) **

Blue Ribbon Pairs The Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs (or simply the Blue Ribbon Pairs) is a national bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The event is restricted to those that have wo ...

(1) 1966 ** Mixed Pairs (1) 2007

Runners-up

(2) ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1968 ** Mixed Board-a-Match Teams (2) 2003, 2012

Significant works

* Summers, Lawrence, and Richard Zeckhauser. "Policymaking for posterity." Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 37.2-3 (2008): 115–140. * Zeckhauser, Richard.
Investing in the Unknown and Unknowable
" (2010): 77–117. * Samuelson, William, and Richard Zeckhauser.
Status quo bias in decision making
" Journal of risk and uncertainty 1, no. 1 (1988): 7–59. * Zeckhauser, Richard (2006
"Investing in the Unknown and Unknowable"
''Capitalism and Society'': Vol. 1 : Iss. 2, Article 5. * Schuck, Peter H. & Zeckhauser, Richard J. ''Targeting in Social Programs: Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples'', Brookings Institution Press, 2010, * Zeckhauser, Richard
''Strategy and choice''
MIT Press, 1991, * Zeckhauser, Richard, Keeney, Ralph L., Sebenius, James K
''Wise choices: decisions, games, and negotiations''
Harvard Business Press, 1996, *

Trivia

Zeckhauser is connected to the so-called Yhprum's law, the opposite of

Murphy's law Murphy's law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Though similar statements and concepts have been made over the course of history, the law itself was coined by, and named after, Americ ...

, saying: "Sometimes systems that should not work, work nevertheless."

References

External links

Official website

NBER Publications by Richard J. Zeckhauser
* (including 2 as second author 'Richard J.') * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeckhauser, Richard 1940 births Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Harvard College alumni Harvard Kennedy School faculty 21st-century American economists American health economists American contract bridge players Living people Negotiation scholars Fellows of the Econometric Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Distinguished fellows of the American Economic Association National Bureau of Economic Research Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Members of the National Academy of Medicine