Customer Reviews

The Economics of Life: From Baseball to Affirmative Action to Immigration, How Real-World Issues Affect Our Everyday Life

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The Economics of Life is a good anthology of Becker's short policy papers over the years. As such, it is useful as a supplemental text for introductory microeconomics. Some might find this book dry reading, but it is quite entertaining compared to standard textbooks.

This book should reach a wider audience too. Now that Milton Friedman is gone, Becker is THE leading proponent of Chicago Rational Choice microeconomics. Those who want to understand policy issues should read this book because it is about the easiest way to get a feel for Chicago microeconomics. See also Hidden Order by David Friedman.

Given the controversial nature of this book it has drawn fire, and will continue to do so. While I freely admit that Chicago price theory has limits, it also has useful applications and relevance. Read The Economics of Life first, judge its merits later.

Based on Becker's columns in Business Week, the book is starting to suffer from the fact that the columns are dating, and that any book made up of columns is bound to get a bit repetitive and disjointed.
That said, the original columns are well-written and often provocative. It's not the best introduction to Becker's economics, which is more distinctive than this material, but it is a good read.

Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker published this collection of articles in the mid1990s. Even if dated, the book is a high-quality and straightforward way to understand basic economics and apply economic theory and principles to daily life. Most of the articles are interesting, it is easy to read both in content and length, the writing is consistently fine and the analysis insightful. It also sparked the vast amount of more recent books of the same fashion like Harford's Undercover economist, Landsburg's Armchair economist, Friedman's Hidden order or Leavitt's Freakonomics. Recommended.

An interesting read for all those individuals who claim that economists are too abstract. Each article offers practicle, and simple, solutions for many of today's social, and political, problems. The writing style of the authors is fairly simple and is not heavy on economic jargon. I especially enjoyed the Becker's ability to cram so much relevant info into small articles. I really enjoyed the collection of artlicles and would highly recommend the book to any person interested in economics.

No other economist (or writer) identifies social issues,illuminates the core problem, and offers rational solutions better than Gary Becker. Becker has the unique ability to take the most complex Chicago-style economic thought and explain it in terms that non-Ph.D's can easily understand. The list of topics that Becker covers is so diverse, I gaurantee that you will find a subject that you can relate to personally. Becker cuts through the misleading information that politicians and the popular press routinely disseminate by identifying why certain parties take positions on issues. (Usually because they have a vested interest in the outcome, but their interest may not be in the best interest of the public) The book is a compilation of articles (30-40) on numerous topics . The articles are easy to read and will leave you thinking about the subjects in a completely different way. A must read for people that have a desire to better understand human and social behavior.

Gary Becker certainly has the credentials to bring economics to the masses, with a Nobel Prize in the field and positions at the economics powerhouse of the University of Chicago as well as the Hoover Institution, one of the world's most influential think tanks. Along with his wife Guity Nashat, Becker applies the concepts and principles of economics to a diverse range of issues in this volume, which is a collection of previously released columns.

The result is an informative look at how economics applies to a wider range of issues in our lives, above and beyond the strictly monetary. Becker was a forerunner in this area, applying economic theory to discrimination back when other economists were looking at nothing more than financial figures and projections. Becker's scope is expanded here and the issues range, as the subtitle puts it, from baseball to affirmative action and more.

Unlike some other reviewers, I do not think these essays are dated. Even if some of the specific issues have changed, the concepts remain the same and can be applied to present situations with little editing. Anyone who cannot do so has read only the words of the essays themselves without recognizing the deeper analysis involved.

The biggest problem with THE ECONOMICS OF LIFE is not that it is dated, but rather that it is truly, truly dull. I was attracted to the book because one of my favorite authors, Thomas Sowell, is also an economist who writes columns for a wider, non-academic audience. Certainly I did not expect a clone of Sowell. Yet Sowell has demonstrated that he can make the dismal science a bit less dismal to read. The same cannot be said of Becker, whose brilliance in the field is matched by the dryness with which he articulates it.

This book brings economic theories down to earth. The Beckers are excellent writers and the book is easy to read because it is broken down into short segments. The book would be great as supplementary reading for a principles of economics class.