Life 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.
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"I've been reading books on behavioral economics recently and I read this book in the midst. It's fantastic. Tim describes in detail how while irrational behaviors can be seen by amateurs and in isolated incidents, in aggregate and in general an expert's behavior tends to approximate the most rational. He also goes on to describe that this does not necessarily mean that what's rational at individual level translate to what's rational for a group or a society. Recommended."
— Rajesh (5 out of 5 stars)
" This book was really interesting, but I kinda of lost steam by the end when he got to the more macro level topics. I find behavioral economics totally fascinating and it really makes you think again about how humans make such fantastic (or not) choices. "
— Amber, 2/14/2014" very insightful on many levels "
— Tai, 2/13/2014" *chapter 2, the las vegas not only for the gambler, but also economist..LOL "
— adhy, 2/5/2014" Easy reading for a rough overview of some social science issues. "
— Javi, 1/30/2014" Enjoyed it. Interesting, thought-provoking, effort. Chronicles interesting efforts to explain trends and events "
— Aaron, 1/21/2014" I just have to say that I am really learning some life lesson type stuff from this book. "
— Ananya, 1/20/2014" Good read I like the Game Theory sections a lot. "
— Phil, 1/14/2014" Also another Econmoics book that answered questions that I had. "
— Antoine, 1/10/2014" A must read if you like behavioral economics. A very interesting book for everybody else. "
— Essam, 1/3/2014" I don't know much about economics - lots of people told me this book was facile, but I found it really interesting. What does that say about me?! Some useful stuff about managing performance, which I can use in one of the courses I run. I know, zzzzzz.... "
— Lucy, 12/28/2013" It's really fun and interesting to read how statistics and incentives work in how people make decisions "
— Michael, 12/23/2013Tim Harford is the author of The Undercover Economist, The Logic of Life, and Adapt. He writes two columns for the Financial Times, and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Forbes, Esquire, Parade, New York, and Wired. He lives with his family in Oxford.
L. J. Ganser is a multiple Audie Award–winning narrator with over six hundred titles recorded to date. Prized for versatility, his work ranges from preschool books to crime noir thrillers, from astronomical adventures in both science and science fiction, to Arctic Circle high school basketball stories. He lives in New York City with his family and dog, Mars.