Fair Play (Hardcover)

by Steven Landsburg (Author) "HUNGER AND FATIGUE MAKE ME CRANKY..." (more)
Key Phrases: trait tax, perfect tax, disincentive effects, United States, New York, Grandfather Fallacy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
Another collection of brash, intelligent essays on economics by the author of The Armchair Economist (1993). Landsburg, a columnist for the online magazine Slate, turns his hand to demystifying everyday economics, using his nine-year- old daughter as a sounding board. While his exchanges with Cayley can turn overly sentimental, Landsburg's sharp wit and sharper insight make this a fun read for anyone with a taste for logic and unbiased opinions. Landsburg begins a discussion on NAFTA by debunking the notion that the number of workers who quit their jobs because of pay cuts represents the true cost of foreign competition. It's the workers who stay and take a pay cut, he argues, who are the real losers, because they bear the full brunt of the loss in wages. He later points out that while some would argue that it's unfair to the $16-an-hour worker to lose a job to a $3-an-hour worker, it's actually the public who, from the point of view of pure economics, has been cheated: They've been overpaying for products made by overpriced workers. At times, Landsburg risks sounding like a curmudgeon: He's irritated that Cayley's teachers dictate on the environment, sex, and drugs. But he rightly points out that even the best-intentioned environmental lesson often consists simply of memorizing the number of acres of rainforest lost, rather than a more complex analysis of land use. His best response is saved for Cayley's Hebrew school class: When asked to write an essay that begins ``To be more like God, I will . . .'' students penned treacly lines such as ``I will be kind to animals.'' Landsburg's stinging response: ``I will slay the first born of my enemies.'' Often funny and at times poetic, these essays are eminently readable and always smart. (Radio satellite tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
... a lively and provocative look at everything from trade policy to environmentalism to affirmative action.... In a clever and accessible way, he exposes a lot of bad economic reasoning that even Barney could see through. -- The Wall Street Journal, Todd G. Buchholz

Milton Friedman An ingenious and highly original presentation of some central principles of economics for the proverbial Everyman. Its breezy tone conceals the subtlety of the analysis. Guaranteed to puncture some illusions and to make you think. -- Review

This University of Chicago-educated mathematician and economist is a serious academic. But his true gifts lie elsewhere: He makes complicated economic and public policy issues accessible to a general audience and, like Hazlitt before him, forces the reader to challenge previously unexamined assumptions that muddle public debate.... The book's breezy tone and light-hearted title belie the thoughtfulness and scholarly sophistication that undergird almost every assertion that Landsburg makes, no matter how outrageous. The book is part primer on economics and public policy, part tutorial on the value of skeptical inquiry. -- Reason, Nicholas Schulz

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (November 8, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684827557
• ISBN-13: 978-0684827551
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #629,380 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Economics at its very best., December 3, 1997

By	Donald J. Boudreaux (Burke, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Steven Landsburg is extraordinarily gifted both as an economist and as a writer. He proves what many economists lazily deny: that economics can be made accessible to those untutored in the subject. Not only will non-economists learn oodles from this spirited book, so too will economists. The only nit I have to pick is Landsburg's analysis of minimum-wage legislation. I find his analysis of such legislation unpersuasive (though clever). The rest of the book is a genuine intellectual delight.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best book ever written on economics and everyday life, April 8, 2001

By	Ross Nordeen (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Numerous books have been written on applying economics to everyday life, but Steve Landsburg's latest book employs a paradigm that puts it head and shoulders above the rest. His interactions with his daughter Cayley put a fascinating spin on things as her experiences and actions are filtered through the eyes of an economist. Landsburg points out again and again how we hold adults to a different, and lower, standard than we hold children, how we tell things to other adults that we would never say to a child and that adults accept excuses and reasoning from other adults that we would never accept from children.

Landsburg sometimes departs from the father-daughter paradigm to discuss issues that don't always fit in the with the rest of the book, but are fascinating none-the-less. Landsburg has a talent for making you think about an issue in novel ways. His analysis of minimum wage laws is clever and principled and nothing like you've ever heard before. Landsburg sheds the same critical light on everything from affirmative action to the rights of the unconceived.

But this is more than a book about economics. It's about what principles we want to use to guide our lives. It's about families. It's about a lot of other things too, but it's especially about fun. If you don't laugh out loud several times while reading this book, you need to have your head examined. Only the most determined curmudgeon could read this without cracking a smile at least once.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must read" for people who like to use their brains., January 5, 1999

By A Customer

As a parent and a citizen-of-earth, I enjoyed (almost) every page of this book. Landsburg helps the reader to think through some issues which are much more "black and white" than our society seems to think they are. Seeking for truth? Be careful of what you wish for. Some of the truths that Landsburg finds in his daughter's life and the way he wants to bring her up will shine some light in corners you may not want to look at. In particular, I was very moved by his views on how our society treats the most productive and successful among us. You will never listen to a Bill Gates joke the same way again. I loved this book! After borrowing it from a friend, I am buying my own copy. Worth owning and worth reading!