The Economics of Life: From Baseball to Affirmative Action to Immagration, How Real-World Issues Affect Our Everyday Lives [Hardcover]

Gary Stanley Becker (Author), Guity Nashat Becker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 1996

Gary S. Becker is one of the few modern economists to apply economic theory to human behavior. He has won global recognition and a Nobel Prize for his theory of "economic reasoning," a provocative world-view that says our daily actions and choices are influenced more than we know by market forces and economic incentives. In "The Economics of Life", Gary Becker and historian Guity Nashat Becker have collected the best of the economist's popular work from "Business Week" (where he is a monthly columnist). These thought-provoking essays show us where we have been and where, for better of worse, we are headed. Many of them aroused heated debate upon their original publication, and they will no doubt do so again. Extending well beyond the traditional range of economics, these 138 essays crisply address the changing role of women in modern economies, crime, immigration, drugs, marriage contracts, the effects of the stock market collapse in 1987, whether the Japanese stock market has been rigged, the organization of major league baseball and other sports, communism, competition between religions, the "Swedish way," discrimination against minorities, Supreme Court decisions, government spending, addictions, and many other topics. Although the Beckers empahsize analysis, they do not shy away from advocating controversial changes in public policy and personal behavior. Among their provative recommendations: legalizing drugs, selling the rights to immigrate, privatizing social security, enforcing marriage contracts more fully, curtailing welfare sharply, limiting the terms of Supreme Court justices and other heavy drinking, and reforming health care to preserve free choice and competition. Such changes, declare the authors, can vastly improve life in the next millennium - if we as a society, and as individuals, are wise and bold enough to take action now. Beholden to no idology, ("We do not identify with any political party in the United States since none takes a consistent position on whether individuals respond to incentives and know their own interests better than politicians and bureaucrats do"), Gary S. Becker and Guity Nashat Becker will set you thinking and perhaps change your mind about the connections between economics and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"The great majority of people are more rational and make fewer mistakes in promoting their own interests than even well-intentioned government officials," writes this impressive couple (Gary won the 1992 Nobel Prize for Economics). The short, column-length essays that make up this volume first appeared in Business Week magazine and show for a popular audience how market incentives influence human behavior in countless ways. The Beckers criticize centralized planning, racial quotas and trade tariffs, and endorse drug legalization, privatized social security and school vouchers. They also veer into unexpected terrain, addressing religion, sports and marriage with keen insight.

Review

``Mr. Becker ranges widely across the current scene, examining goverment spending, taxation, gun conntrol, and even sports and religion.'' (Henderson, David R. The Wall Street Journal )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (September 16, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070059438
• ISBN-13: 978-0070059436
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #998,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting introductory text to practical economics, February 13, 2003

By 

Denis Benchimol Minev "Amazonia" (Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Economics of Life: From Baseball to Affirmative Action to Immigration, How Real-World Issues Affect Our Everyday Life (Paperback)

This is a collection of articles Becker has published during his career as an economic contributer to Business Week. After having read some of Becker's other books, I came to the conclusion that this book is two things:
1) An easy to understand intro to the usage of economic principles to solve problems. Becker's other books were essentially on similar topics, but with a much more rigorous analysis.
2) An intro to new topics that could be approached from a much more rigorous standpoint. Becker's curious mind actually points out to many issues (such as immigration, affirmative action, and many other gov't issues) that would benefit from a more rigorous economic approach.

Good entertainment value, with about 80% of essays really interesting and the rest fillers.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Becker for everyone, April 12, 2005

By 

amznecon - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Economics of Life: From Baseball to Affirmative Action to Immigration, How Real-World Issues Affect Our Everyday Life (Paperback)

This works provides great insight into the economic thinking and reasoning of one of the greatest living economists. It is simple enought for someone without a economics background to understand, yet complex enough for advanced students of economics to study and debate. A great work.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars economics meets real world application, May 6, 2005

By 

M. Nowacki "bocamick" (mentor, ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Economics of Life: From Baseball to Affirmative Action to Immigration, How Real-World Issues Affect Our Everyday Life (Paperback)

Throughout school students are always complaining about how applicable subjects like economics, math, sociology, etc., really are. Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker helps fill this void in economics. Although I found some of his solutions to social problems too simplistic, it is an interesting read and it is sure to get you thinking. I personally like the books organization and structure. It is a composition of Becker's columns in Business Week and each column is about 1.5 pages. I liked this book because when I sit on the toilet I can get through a column or two. It is also good for a stationary bike or reading in heavy traffic.