The Essence of Becker (Hoover Institute Press Publication, 426.) (Hardcover)

by Gary Stanley Becker (Author), Ramon I. Febrero (Editor), Pedro Schwartz (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
This collection of his most important essays "reprints...Becker's personal overview, comprising his Nobel Lecture on the economic way of looking at behavior." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

This volume presents twenty-six essays that showcase the brilliant originality and range of economic thought that earned Hoover Institution senior fellow Gary S. Becker the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1992. As the first published collection of Becker's papers, this selection offers an overview of the fundamental theries and unorthodox applications that inspired Milton Friedman to call Becker "one of the most creative economists of our generation" and concludes with the text of Becker's Nobel lecture, a personal survey of his work. Becker's significant contributions evolve from an economic approach to analyzing social issues that range beyond those usually considered by economists. By questioning assumptions taken for granted in most economic modeling. Becker sheds new light on previously unconnected and poorly understood social phenomena. He relies on this signular axiom: all actors in the social game are economic persons who maximize their advantages in different cost situations. In these essays, Becker studies persistent racial and sexual discrimination investment in human capital, crime and punishment, marriage and divorce, the family, drug addiction, and other apparently noneconomic dimensions of society. Significantly, Becker's findings not only shift huge problems that other social scientists once considered immovable but also stand up to empirical challenge.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 669 pages
• Publisher: Hoover Institution Press (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081799341X
• ISBN-13: 978-0817993412
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,841,152 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars COMPILATION OF BECKER'S BEST WORKS, August 13, 2004

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

This review is from: The Essence of Becker (Hoover Institute Press Publication, 426.) (Paperback)

This is a compilation of Becker's most significant articles. Becker is one fo the most brilliant economists in the 20th century, taking the tools of economic analysis to other social sciences, especially sociology.

The articles have varied topics, including:
- Economic analysis of marriage
- Economic analysis of family size
- Economic justification for altruism
- Economic analysis of restaurant pricing patterns
- Economic analysis of discrimination
- Economic analysis of crime

It is a bit academic, since these are the original article he wrote for academic journals, but they are understandable since it is mostly concepts and not too many equations (though there are some). For the absolute beginner, this may be too advanced, so I would recommend The Economics of Life by Becker as well. If you have some knowledge of economics, I believe this would be a great choice. It shows how the rationality acquired in economics is applicable elsewhere, almost everywhere.