Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler, holding a jar of coins, discusses a behavioral economic theory he popularized known as the winner's curse.

Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler discusses a behavioral economic theory he popularized known as the winner’s curse.

Darian Woods/NPR

hide caption

toggle caption

Darian Woods/NPR

Ever put in the winning bid for something on an auction site only to realize you significantly overpaid? Yeah, there’s a phrase for that. On today’s show: the winner’s curse.

Richard Thaler’s new book with Alex O. Imas is The Winner’s Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies, Then and Now.

Read Planet Money’s newsletter on the winner’s curse. 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. Â