The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational WorldLife sometimes seems illogical. Individuals do strange things: take drugs, have unprotected sex, mug each other. Love seems irrational, and so does divorce. On a larger scale, life seems no fairer or easier to fathom: Why do some neighborhoods thrive and others become ghettos? Why is racism so persistent? Why is your idiot boss paid a fortune for sitting behind a mahogany altar? Thorny questions–and you might be surprised to hear the answers coming from an economist. But Tim Harford, award-winning journalist and author of the bestseller The Undercover Economist, likes to spring surprises. In this deftly reasoned book, Harford argues that life is logical after all. Under the surface of everyday insanity, hidden incentives are at work, and Harford shows these incentives emerging in the most unlikely places. Using tools ranging from animal experiments to supercomputer simulations, an ambitious new breed of economist is trying to unlock the secrets of society. The Logic of Life is the first book to map out the astonishing insights and frustrating blind spots of this new economics in a way that anyone can enjoy. The Logic of Life presents an X-ray image of human life, stripping away the surface to show us a picture that is revealing, enthralling, and sometimes disturbing. The stories that emerge are not about data or equations but about people: the athlete who survived a shocking murder attempt, the computer geek who beat the hard-bitten poker pros, the economist who defied Henry Kissinger and faked an invasion of Berlin, the king who tried to buy off a revolution. Once you’ve read this quotable and addictive book, life will never look the same again. |
Contents
TWO LAS VEGAS | 32 |
THREE IS DIVORCE UNDERRATED? | 62 |
FOUR WHY YOUR BOSS IS OVERPAID | 88 |
FIVE | 96 |
EIGHT | 170 |
NINE A MILLION YEARS OF LOGIC | 193 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 215 |
Other editions - View all
The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World Tim Harford No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
acting white addiction African American Battalio Becker benefits chance chapter cities cost crime Daron Acemoglu discrimination division of labor divorce dollars economists Edward Glaeser employers example experiment Ferguson game theory Gary Becker ghettos Glaeser Homo economicus human idea incentives income innovation John List Journal of Economics Kagel kids less Levitt live logic London look Marriage Supermarket married mathematical million move Murphy neighborhood Neumann offer option oral sex paper park percent perhaps play players poker politics population problem produce prostitutes racial racism rates rational behavior rational choice theory rats researchers respond Revolution risk Roland Fryer Schelling's sexual shareholders simply speed date Steven Levitt sugar teenagers there's thing Thomas Schelling thousand Tim Harford tion tional tournament trade vote wages women York young black