The Logic Of Life: Uncovering the New Economics of Everything

Description

A dazzling application of new economic theories to the world around us - by the author of THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST showed how ordinary economics explained everyday curiosities, such as the price of a cup of coffee and the traffic jam on the way to the supermarket. THE LOGIC OF LIFE shows how the new economics of rational choice theory explains much, much more. Drug addicts and teenage muggers can be rational. Suburban sprawl and inner city decay are rational. Endless meetings at the office and the injustices of working life? Rational. Economics explains why your boss is overpaid, whether we should build more prisons, and whether a city like New Orleans can recover from disaster. THE LOGIC OF LIFE introduces you to engaging stories and characters linked together in a bold narrative sweep. The book starts with the most intimate decisions - to have sex, to take drugs, to lead an honest life - then zooms out to discuss the logic of the family, of neighbourhoods, large corporations, cities themselves. This is the new economics of everything you never thought was economics, and it will help you see the world in a new way.

Tim Harford writes the 'Dear Economist' column for the FT Saturday magazine. An award winning public speaker, Tim has been an economist for a major oil company and an economics tutor at Oxford University. Author Location: London E5 THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST (978 0 349 11985 4)

'The chapter "Why is Your Boss Overpaid?" is in itself worth the price of this book' - Sunday Telegraph 'This is no minor thesis . . . If you loved [The Tipping Point and Freakonomics] you'll love this' - Financial Times