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

by Gary Becker (Author), Guity Becker (Author) "Long acknowledged as a leading academic, Gary's career took a decidedly different path when he began his new calling as a "journalist" more than 10..." (more)
Key Phrases: guilty companies, illegal entrants, voluntary army, Hong Kong, Soviet Union, Supreme Court (more...)

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"Mr. Becker ranges widely across the current scene, examining goverment spending, taxation, gun conntrol, and even sports and religion." -- Henderson, David R., Wall Street Journal, 11/19/96 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070067090
• ISBN-13: 978-0070067097
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #243,878 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 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

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.

10 of 12 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)

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.

7 of 8 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 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.