Behavioral Economics Newest Enthusiastic Convert

I might be unfair here: maybe David Brooks, the New York Times' main "useful conservative", has been bullish on Behavioral Economics for a long time, unbeknownst to most of his readers. Strangely, I don't remember ever reading a column of his mentioning the subject (then again I can't say that I read all of his columns; actually it could be said that I very rarely read any of his columns, for some reason I forget just now).

At any rate, I respect him all the more for writing a column embracing Behavioral Economics wholeheartedly and even bemoaning the fact that its techniques aren't used more widely and for much more ambitious aims than just, say, gently nudging people to eat better, exercise more or stop smoking. Ambitious as in:

[...] How do we get people to restrain government commitments now so that debt down the road won’t be so ruinous? How do we calculate the multiplier effects of tax cuts or spending increases among different subgroups of the population, or under different emotional conditions? How do we rig the context of budget negotiations so participants can actually come to a deal? How are people in different cultures likely to react to drone strikes? How do we structure sanctions against Iran to cause the greatest psychic humiliation? [...]

Say what? Oops, I think I've been had! Now I remember why I don't read David Brooks so much.