More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics (Hardcover)

by Steven E. Landsburg (Author)
Key Phrases: ventilator insurance, communal stream, bigger carts, United States, Fix Everything Else, Social Security (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Economics books full of "uncommon sense" are more common after the success of Freakonomics, but this rambling survey of hot-button and quotidian issues viewed from a libertarian economic perspective doesn't measure up. Landsburg (The Armchair Economist) is sometimes pleasantly counterintuitive, but too often simply contentious. In using cost/benefit calculations to argue in favor of racial profiling or why we shouldn't care about the looting of Baghdad's museums, he strains to celebrate "all that is counter, original, spare and strange." While positing multiple solutions to interesting problems, he forces logical readers to confront uncomfortable positions—as in the title essay, urging chaste citizens to sleep around, thereby diluting the pool of potential sex partners with AIDS. But the chapters typically conclude without resolution—at one point, the author shrugs: "It's not easy to sort out causes from effects." One suspects that a rival economist could swiftly debunk many of Landsburg's arguments—for instance, his chapter praising misers (who produce but don't consume) depends on the assumption that all resources are fixed and finite. By the time he makes the head-scratching case that "it's always an occasion for joy when other people have more children," the reader may be in the mood for some plain old common sense. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Economist Landsburg sets out to explain extraordinary findings and logical arguments about the economics of everyday life. In the same vein as the recently popular Freakonomics, this book aims to assault common sense using the tools of evidence and logic to describe reality. Drawn from evidently popular response to the author's magazine column, the book's title and lengthy first chapter on sex and AIDS could be found tedious by some. Yet his wisdom in subsequent chapters is thought-provoking. His ideas on beauty and ugliness, why insurance rates in Philadelphia are so high, compassion and economic considerations, gains from population size, daughters and divorce, concentrating charitable giving to one recipient, and views on Social Security are a few topics the author tackles with a lighthearted perspective. He tells us, "These are carefully considered arguments about important issues. But they're also surprising arguments, and surprises are fun. This book will give you new insights about how the world works." Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416532218
• ISBN-13: 978-1416532217
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #407,076 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, June 2, 2007

By	Dave Hitz (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was expecting something thoughtful and thought-provoking, like Freakonomics or Blink, but instead I found lots of half-baked suggestions that seem intended to shock rather than enlighten.

Here's an example. Landsburg argues that the big barrier for people getting their first loan is that banks don't believe they will pay, so he argues that "If the government wants to provide meaningful assistance to first-time home buyers, it should probably consider capital punishment for late mortgage payments." That would prove their intent to pay, and make banks feel safer. Does he really believe this? It's hard to tell, because he throws out many of his crazy ideas with little support or comment.

Another suggestion is that Congressmen should be assigned to constituents alphabetically, one representing names starting Aa-Am, another An-Be, and so on, because that would create less incentive for bridges to nowhere. What kind of legislation can you pass to unfairly advantage people whose names start with B? But he completely ignores the issue of representing constituents with common interests, or how a congressman could go about meeting people spread evenly over the whole country. Perhaps there's a nugget of a good idea, but given that he ignores any potential downsides, you can't really tell.

At first these crazy suggestions were amusing, but as they kept coming, I wondered: Is he serious or just screwing around? The crazy unsupported ideas made me skeptical of the ones he seems to be trying to defend more seriously, because it seems he's more interested in shocking people than in reach seriously supportable truths.

In the end, I felt that I hadn't learned much -- just watched a smart guy ramble about with little serious intent.

Dave

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Terse, Disappointing, June 9, 2008

By	Lowell Prescott (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics (Hardcover)

Landsburg's arguments are certainly provocative, but his style (both of argument and of writing) get in the way of enjoying this book. It reads like what it is: a series of magazine articles collected somewhat arbitrarily under a provocative title.

His complex arguments with multiple assumptions are presented as if they were simple arguments with no unstated assumptions. Many are reduced to three or four terse sentences. I found myself thinking more about his starting points than his conclusions.

In fact, I would not say that I either agree or disagree with his conclusions. Some seem inevitable, others seem insane. There are at least a couple that I believe could be demonstrated as blatantly false (if the underlying assumptions were enumerated and evaluated). But mostly I feel like I do not have enough supporting information to make a truly informed response.

If his goal was to teach readers how to use economic principles in decision-making, the goal was not met. If his goal was to show how making decisions using economic principles leads to surprising conclusions, again it was not met. If his goal was something else, it is difficult to discern. Ultimately, I see little point for this book. It was only modestly entertaining.

But I think the biggest sin in these essays is that they are all logic and no heart. Throughout all of the "cost-benefit" reasoning, there is no acknowledgment that feeling good about a decision (regardless of its soundness) must be tallied in the "benefit" column.

Yes, this is irrational (see Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions) and generally leads to bad decisions, but it must be considered. Mr. Landsburg is not only rather dismissive toward such a notion, he writes with a somewhat arrogant tone which discourages further conversation.

There are lots of popular books out there about economics. I found this one to be rather disappointing.

29 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Freakonomics, June 2, 2007

By	Coach K (NY,NY) - See all my reviews

I have long been a fan of Landsburg having read two of his other books. This is his best work yet, and a better read than the popular Freakonomics. This is a great book to introduce the reader to economic ways of thinking about everyday problems and issues in a fun and engaging way.

Here is what I liked about it:

1) Landsburg hits a range of areas, even if sometimes only for a page or two, and many of these topics have important implications for policy or to our own lives. Some examples include his thoughts on pollution, free trade, free markets for organs, child labor, choosing charities and more. This contrasts with Freakonomics, which delves for the most part into interesting topics that are less important(eg, sumo wrestling cheating)
I will say, however, that some of my favorite chapters had little practical value, notably, the chapter on how and why couples with girls are more likely to divorce than couples with boys. Fascinating stuff!

2) As the title suggests, his logic is often quite unconventional. Are there times when he seems to smart for his own good, with some ideas that are a bit too far out? Yes, like his ridiculous suggestion for making lines shorter (in brief, each new person goes the front, not the back of the line... don't ask) HOWEVER, by and large, I found him to be quite convincing with pragmatic solutions to problems, and interesting insights that offer different ways of thinking.

3) As always, I enjoy his writing style, particularly his wit. The book also reads in a way that has you guessing, "What are potential flaws in his reasoning" which he then mentions, and then dispels satisfactorily.

All in all, a great read. I do have to warn readers though, that the first chapter, the one discussing the Safer Sex issue, was, in my opinion, oversimplified and weak. The book does get much better, however.