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In The Logic of Life, bestselling author Tim Harford quite simply makes sense of this world.
Life often seems to defy logic. The receptionist is clearly smarter than the boss who earns fifty times her salary. Arbitrary lines starkly divide the desirable districts of the city from the dangerous ones. Voters flock to the polling booths to elect candidates who’ll rip them off to favour special interests. None of it makes logical sense — or does it?
Economist and acclaimed author Tim Harford thinks it does. By weaving stories from locations as diverse as a Vegas casino to a barroom speed date, Harford aims to persuade you that people are, in fact, surprisingly logical.
When a street prostitute agrees to unprotected sex, or a teenage criminal embarks on a burglary — perhaps especially when a racist employer disregards a black job applicant — we would seem to be a million miles from rational behaviour. Harford shows that, discomfitingly, we are not. It turns out that the unlikeliest of people are complying with the logic of economics and responding to future costs and benefits, often without realizing it; and socially tragic outcomes can have their roots in individually rational decisions.
Brilliantly reasoned, always entertaining and often provocative, The Logic of Life is a book to help you understand yourself and the world around you.
From the Hardcover edition.
Life often seems to defy logic. The receptionist is clearly smarter than the boss who earns fifty times her salary. Arbitrary lines starkly divide the desirable districts of the city from the dangerous ones. Voters flock to the polling booths to elect candidates who’ll rip them off to favour special interests. None of it makes logical sense — or does it?
Economist and acclaimed author Tim Harford thinks it does. By weaving stories from locations as diverse as a Vegas casino to a barroom speed date, Harford aims to persuade you that people are, in fact, surprisingly logical.
When a street prostitute agrees to unprotected sex, or a teenage criminal embarks on a burglary — perhaps especially when a racist employer disregards a black job applicant — we would seem to be a million miles from rational behaviour. Harford shows that, discomfitingly, we are not. It turns out that the unlikeliest of people are complying with the logic of economics and responding to future costs and benefits, often without realizing it; and socially tragic outcomes can have their roots in individually rational decisions.
Brilliantly reasoned, always entertaining and often provocative, The Logic of Life is a book to help you understand yourself and the world around you.
From the Hardcover edition.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
Highly readable, funny and daringly contentious . . . a whopping good time.
" San Francisco Chronicle"
[Tim] Harford sets off on an enormously entertaining yarn backed by the findings of expert economists. He spins playfully, but smartly, across matters of sex, crime, gambling, addiction, marriage, racism, ghettos and politics, and he makes it all, well, titillating at times. Really.
" USA Today"
Harford has a knack for explaining economic principles and problems in plain language and, even better, for making them fun.
" The New York Times"
[Harford] is an amiable guide for the non-specialist reader . . . but his command of the subject is such that even a well-schooled economist will discover much that is new.
" The Economist"
Highly engaging . . . entertaining and provocative.
" Publishers Weekly"
A fascinating work with many aha moments.
" Booklist"
Smart, charming, penetrating, and wise.
Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of "Freakonomics
" Chock-full of numbers and money talk, but oddly entertaining.
" Kirkus Reviews"
Charming and informative.
" Newsday"
Like Harford s earlier book, "The Undercover Economist" if you haven t got it, get it this book uses the basic theory of rational choice to make transparent the logic behind common but important puzzling phenomena. Even a trained economist can enjoy discovering what he didn t realize he already knew. I did.
Thomas C. Schelling, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Economics
This witty, intelligent book will help you see the entire world in a new light.
Tyler Cowen, author of "Discover Your Inner Economist ""
""
"Highly readable, funny and daringly contentious . . . a whopping good time."
-San Francisco Chronicle "[Tim] Harford sets off on an enormously entertaining yarn backed by the findings of expert economists. He spins playfully, but smartly, across matters of sex, crime, gambling, addiction, marriage, racism, ghettos and politics, and he makes it all, well, titillating at times. Really."
-USA Today "Harford has a knack for explaining economic principles and problems in plain language and, even better, for making them fun."
-The New York Times "[Harford] is an amiable guide for the non-specialist reader . . . but his command of the subject is such that even a well-schooled economist will discover much that is new."
-The Economist "Highly engaging . . . entertaining and provocative."
-Publishers Weekly "A fascinating work with many 'aha' moments."
-Booklist "Smart, charming, penetrating, and wise."
-Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics "Chock-full of numbers and money talk, but oddly entertaining."
-Kirkus Reviews "Charming and informative."
-Newsday "Like Harford's earlier book, The Undercover Economist-if you haven't got it, get it-this book uses the basic theory of rational choice to make transparent the logic behind common but important puzzling phenomena. Even a trained economist can enjoy discovering what he didn't realize he already knew. I did."
-Thomas C. Schelling, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Economics
"This witty, intelligent book will help you see the entire world in a new light."
-Tyler Cowen, author of Discover Your Inner Economist
About the Author:
" San Francisco Chronicle"
[Tim] Harford sets off on an enormously entertaining yarn backed by the findings of expert economists. He spins playfully, but smartly, across matters of sex, crime, gambling, addiction, marriage, racism, ghettos and politics, and he makes it all, well, titillating at times. Really.
" USA Today"
Harford has a knack for explaining economic principles and problems in plain language and, even better, for making them fun.
" The New York Times"
[Harford] is an amiable guide for the non-specialist reader . . . but his command of the subject is such that even a well-schooled economist will discover much that is new.
" The Economist"
Highly engaging . . . entertaining and provocative.
" Publishers Weekly"
A fascinating work with many aha moments.
" Booklist"
Smart, charming, penetrating, and wise.
Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of "Freakonomics
" Chock-full of numbers and money talk, but oddly entertaining.
" Kirkus Reviews"
Charming and informative.
" Newsday"
Like Harford s earlier book, "The Undercover Economist" if you haven t got it, get it this book uses the basic theory of rational choice to make transparent the logic behind common but important puzzling phenomena. Even a trained economist can enjoy discovering what he didn t realize he already knew. I did.
Thomas C. Schelling, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Economics
This witty, intelligent book will help you see the entire world in a new light.
Tyler Cowen, author of "Discover Your Inner Economist ""
""
"Highly readable, funny and daringly contentious . . . a whopping good time."
-San Francisco Chronicle "[Tim] Harford sets off on an enormously entertaining yarn backed by the findings of expert economists. He spins playfully, but smartly, across matters of sex, crime, gambling, addiction, marriage, racism, ghettos and politics, and he makes it all, well, titillating at times. Really."
-USA Today "Harford has a knack for explaining economic principles and problems in plain language and, even better, for making them fun."
-The New York Times "[Harford] is an amiable guide for the non-specialist reader . . . but his command of the subject is such that even a well-schooled economist will discover much that is new."
-The Economist "Highly engaging . . . entertaining and provocative."
-Publishers Weekly "A fascinating work with many 'aha' moments."
-Booklist "Smart, charming, penetrating, and wise."
-Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics "Chock-full of numbers and money talk, but oddly entertaining."
-Kirkus Reviews "Charming and informative."
-Newsday "Like Harford's earlier book, The Undercover Economist-if you haven't got it, get it-this book uses the basic theory of rational choice to make transparent the logic behind common but important puzzling phenomena. Even a trained economist can enjoy discovering what he didn't realize he already knew. I did."
-Thomas C. Schelling, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Economics
"This witty, intelligent book will help you see the entire world in a new light."
-Tyler Cowen, author of Discover Your Inner Economist
Tim Harford is the bestselling author of The Undercover Economist, and a member of the editorial board of the Financial Times, where he also writes the “Dear Economist” column. He is a regular contributor to Slate, Forbes, and NPR’s Marketplace. Hartford has been an economist at the World Bank and an economics tutor at Oxford University. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.
From the Hardcover edition.
From the Hardcover edition.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherDoubleday of Canada
- Publication date2009
- ISBN 10 0385663889
- ISBN 13 9780385663885
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages255
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The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World
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Anchor Canada
(2009)
ISBN 10: 0385663889
ISBN 13: 9780385663885
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