The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World

by Tim Harford

0 ratings • 0 reviews • 1 shelved
Book cover for The Logic of Life

Bookhype may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.

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.
  • ISBN10 1400066425
  • ISBN13 9781400066421
  • Publish Date 30 January 2008 (first published 1 January 2008)
  • Publish Status Remaindered
  • Out of Print 12 November 2014
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Random House
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 255
  • Language English