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Tyler Cowen

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An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies Paperback – February 26, 2013

by Tyler Cowen (Author)

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A leading economist, “who may very well turn out to be this decade’s Thomas Friedman” (Wall Street Journal), illuminates the state of American food today.

Tyler Cowen, one of the most influential economists of the last decade, wants you to know that just about everything you’ve heard about how to get good food is wrong. Drawing on a provocative range of examples from around the globe, Cowen reveals why airplane food is bad, but airport food is improving, why restaurants full of happy, attractive people usually serve mediocre meals, and why American food has improved as Americans drink more wine. At a time when obesity is on the rise and forty-four million Americans receive food stamps, An Economist Gets Lunch will revolutionize the way we eat today—and show us how we’re going to feed the world tomorrow.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publication date

February 26, 2013
Dimensions

5.31 x 0.69 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0452298849
ISBN-13

978-0452298842
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A perfect marriage of economics and food. Tyler Cowen is my newest guilty pleasure."—Rocco DiSpirito, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Now Eat This!

"Tyler Cowen's latest book is a real treat, probably my favorite thing he's ever written. It does a fantastic job exploring the economics, culture, esthetics, and realities of food and delivers a mountain of compelling facts. Most of all, it's encouraging—not a screed, despite its occasionally serious arguments—and brings the fun back to eating. Delicious!"—Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics

"A gastronomic, economic, and philosophical feast from one of the world's most creative economists. Tyler Cowen offers the thinking person's guide to American food culture, and your relationships with food will be hugely enriched by the result."—Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist and Adapt

"Part economic history . . . part guide to getting a better meal at home or a restaurant. Reconowned economist . . . Professor Cowen is an expert on the economics of culture and the arts."—The New York Times Dining Section

About the Author

Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is a prominent blogger at marginalrevolution.com, the world’s leading economics blog. He also writes regularly for The New York Times, and has written for Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wilson Quarterly.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Publishing Group; Reprint edition (February 26, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0452298849
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0452298842
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.69 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,451,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Tyler Cowen

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Tyler Cowen (/ˈkaʊ.ən/; born January 21, 1962) is an American economist, academic, and writer. He occupies the Holbert L. Harris Chair of economics, as a professor at George Mason University, and is co-author, with Alex Tabarrok, of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution. Cowen and Tabarrok have also ventured into online education by starting Marginal Revolution University. He currently writes a regular column for Bloomberg View. He also has written for such publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Time, Wired, Newsweek, and the Wilson Quarterly. Cowen also serves as faculty director of George Mason's Mercatus Center, a university research center that focuses on the market economy. In February 2011, Cowen received a nomination as one of the most influential economists in the last decade in a survey by The Economist. He was ranked #72 among the "Top 100 Global Thinkers" in 2011 by Foreign Policy Magazine "for finding markets in everything."

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4.1 out of 5

130 global ratings

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Shiraz Allidina

Don't focus on conclusions, focus on the tools & method

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2012

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This is an excellent book.

One reason you can quickly tell it is good: just by googling it, you can find intelligent discussions both pro and con Tyler Cowen's conclusions. But, as stated by the author himself, the goal is to inculcate a lens of viewing things which allows the reader to observe and draw their own conclusions about how the world of food works. This is a nuanced view of economics, which blends conventional price theory with other items such as behavioral economics, substitutes and complements, network effects, and the evolutionarily stable strategies of game theory.

Tyler deftly applies insights from the dry topics above to something universally accessible and fun: food. The pages crackle with Tyler's humane, deep appreciation of food and food culture, and how it is no mere commodity, but an essential part of what makes us human. Don't be fooled by the title: this is a book rich in culture and insight into the human condition. Recommended for foodies and humanists alike.

2 people found this helpful

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timothylord

Quirky, Fun, Informative, Wide-Ranging

Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2014

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I'd especially recommend this book to anyone with an interest in expanding their food horizons downwards and sideways, rather than only up-up-up (in price, Michelin star ratings, social status rankings). That's not to say downwards on tastiness or interest, though, which is the point: Cowen emphasizes that he is an "everyday foodie," and while he's got strong opinions about *food,* he's not in it for the atmosphere, or at least not for nice tablecloths and obsequious waiters. More the opposite: he advises finding places where the diners look a little serious rather than glibly happy, the cooks have incentive to cook their best for you, the customers aren't glamorous, and the rent is cheap. He concentrates on "ethnic" food, with the important proviso that *all* food is ethnic food.

For the U.S., he gives a lot of attention to the creative possibilities of BBQ, one food that may be less available in authentic form in some parts of the country, but in wide-ranging profusion across a wide belt.

This book has less to offer for vegetarians, never mind vegans, than it does for people willing -- as is the author -- to eat the weird bits of meat and seafood, though he has great things to say about the greens, and the prices, at Chinese groceries. Cowen lives in Northern Virginia, and a lot of his examples reflect that. He does travel world-wide, and some of the most inspiring stories are from his low-budget eating adventures in Asia and South America, but readers in the Maryland / NoVa / D.C. area get some extra luck here.

Not everyone will like all of Cowen's rules of thumb (I think happy diners *can* be just as good a guide as angry-looking, family-fighting ones, as long as it's the food they're happy about), but they make a good starting point.

Bonus, for some people, and the main attraction for others: this is a book about food by an unconventional economist, and a book about economics by a broad-thinking foodie. Not many books about food make economic history a central component; with Cowen, you're going to learn some thought-provoking bits about incentives and supply chains. Why is America good at sauces, but bad at Cantonese food? He's got stories.

My 4-star rating loses the 5th only to account for some repetition and phrasing that I just found off; also (totally unfair) because I wish this book was a bit longer. Would like to hear more about coffee (he's got an upbeat assessment of Starbucks, which I share but for different reasons), about foods of the midwest and northwest, about central and eastern Europe ...

Highly recommended. It's already inspired me to get some local Texas barbecue, which turned out to include one of the greasiest and tastiest sausages I've ever had ;)

6 people found this helpful

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Corrian

Starts off Great, then Falls Flat

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2012

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I concur with a previous reviewer who notes that this books feels like: "getting stuck at a cocktail party and listening to the nerdy economics professor pontificating on a subject he knows very little about."

Unfortunately, the vast majority of this book seems like unnecessary filler based on tenuous facts. Written in the first person, it details places Cowen has traveled to and his own personal musings about the economics of food with few hard facts to back up his arguments. On many occasions he has a tantalizing sentence, theory, or fact that he then fails to elaborate on which makes for a frustrating read. I would have enjoyed this book much more had he included more research and fewer personal anecdotes. Some reviewers have compared this book to the famous "Freakonomics." It's not even close. Freakonomics is so fascinating because the author's theories are backed by intensive research. Sadly, Cowen's unconventional ideas about food are backed by nothing more than his own theories, and things like "a study I recall coming across" are his only sources.

That being said, I found the first two chapters were extremely fascinating. Cowen writes an excellent analysis on why North American food is so "bad." To me, these two chapters are so good as to almost make buying the book worthwhile. I've already recommended the book to a number of foodie friends with the caveat that after the first 40 pages the book quickly goes downhill. Chapter three is a weird and out of place monologue about the layout of Cowen's local Chinese Market and subsequent chapters range from being somewhat interesting to downright boring.

Overall, I'd say this book is worth reading for the first 40 pages alone, even if you just skim the rest.

5 people found this helpful

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Adam Freit

Fantastic and delicious

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2012

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Already a fan of his side ethnic food blog for recommendations in our shared area, the DC metro region, I actually had high expectations. Boy did he meet them. Beginning with how to find good food in the towns and countryside of Central America he expands to why American food got so bad in the mid-20th century, the importance of immigration, the best kinds of places for food in various countries, a guide for grocery shopping, and food policy in general. Suffice it to say much of my copy is highlighted with his recommendations and interesting reasoning. I may not agree with 100% of what he says, but Cowen certainly thinks a lot about food from an economic perspective and it's quite useful. A must for any foodie or person interested even a bit in how the world works.

One person found this helpful

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Saurabh

Love the book, not the print quality

Reviewed in India on December 27, 2023

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The book is great – 5 stars for that.
But the copy I got seems like a pirated version – the page and print quality are subpar—1 star for that.

Dieter

na ja

Reviewed in Germany on November 16, 2014

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das ist ja ein Kochbuch

und warum kann ich hier nichts schreiben mit wenig Worten ? Merkwuerdiges System abc abc abc abc abc abc abc

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A. T. Ramsay

At times a bit laborious, but if you skip ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 3, 2014

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At times a bit laborious, but if you skip those parts that are not applicable to your country or interests, some enlightening and thought-provoking opinions and propositions.

Jorge Vilar Palop

Gran libro, mala entrega

Reviewed in Spain on August 20, 2013

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El libro es muy interesante. Cowen es una mente inquieta que necesita entender todo lo que ve y así descubre el funcionamiento de la economía de la alimentación allí donde va. Lo que acaban siendo sus consejos son muy útiles si uno se dedica a andar por el mundo tratando de disfrutar al máximo de la comida local sin acabar con una indigestión.

El libro tardó casi un mes en ser entregado, recomiendo buscar otra librería!

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