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

better than Undercover Economist, much better than Freakonomics, worth reading again; better sourced and more detail, nuance of econ outside of finance

This is a book that attempts to introduce a wide reading public to the way in which economists think using the theory of rational choice. Its central argument is that even the most bizarre behaviour and seemingly mundane choices is driven by ordinary people thinking through rational reasoning and arriving at logical decisions. Of course, decisions about using condoms or frequenting a park at a risky time of day , whether to divorse or even deciding to take or abstain from drugs are often made almost intuitively or for the individual based upon experience and assumptions but Harford explains that intuitive logic.is rational and the product of careful reasoning. Logical reasoning is itself based on information and often information is asymmetrical. He applies the reasoning and thinking of an economist to everyday life. It is written in a very racy way with a strong appeal to an American readership - some of the cultural references may not be understood or appeal to readers in other parts of the world. The style is journalistic in an effort to make it accessible. It is not an economics textbook but I would recommend it to a class of first year economics students simply to get them interested in the questions that economists probe. If you enjoyed Steven Levitt 's and Stephen Dubner's Freakonomics and Superfreakeconomics you will enjoy this book but don't be fooled its not an economics textbook nor is it a serious economics monograph. But its very readable and easy on the brain. Its makes the case for economics as a social science and pushes the links say between psychology and economics and perhaps makes the discipline less of a dismal science. I liked it too for avoiding jargon and avoiding mathematical modelling. ( )

Interesting book which raises various psychological issues in its exploration of rational decision making. Some of the issues raised are set in context with geographical examples, which I like.

The author, Tim Harford, is a self proclaimed economist and he has a website:
http://www.timharford.com

I thought the book was calling for a closer integration of economics into social science research to develop a clearer understanding of the way things work. Maybe this is happening, but nevertheless, I wonder if far more about this world can be explained by 'cock up theory' than 'conspiracy theory' where muppetry and unforseen circumstance tends to result in outcomes more than what is intended consequence.

I did not read every word of this book from start to finish, rather I dipped in and out of it, so I may have missed some parts and this review might not be a fair reflection.

I liked the consideration of the pace of "development", and its relation to the size and innovation of human populations. Population size is a proxy for the number of good and developed ideas, as it is a proxy for so many things, but usually the real thing of interest is quite complex and so the relation may be prone to sudden change. One of my hopes is that cyberspace and collaborative working are now ushering in a new dawn in memetic development that accelerates our development of knowledge and understanding and the pace of development itself. Is this above and beyond the exponential growth of human population? Well...

An intelligent and interesting book about the hidden economic forces which affect everyone from prostitutes through voters to racists... Great! ( )

I heard Tim Harford on Start the Week a month or three back - I can't remember what he said now but it was interesting enough for me to order his book from the library. When the book turned up I wasn't convinced that I was going to find it that enthralling but I ended up loving it. This is all about how the world is shaped by pretty much everyone making rational choices about the world around them and yet we end up with some things, like rough neighbourhoods or overpaid bosses, that don't appear to arise out of logic at all. The author is an economist applying the mix of mathematics and observation that's usually applied to finance to all kinds of other areas. The book is nicely structured. It's one of those books where each time the subject changes I think the new subject won't be as interesting as the last one but each time I'm wrong. I'll be looking out for Harford's first book "The Undercover Economist" now.