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Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life Paperback – July 18, 1997

by David D. Friedman (Author)

43 customer reviews

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David Friedman has never taken an economics class in his life. Sure, he's taught economics at UCLA. Chicago, Tulane, Cornell, and Santa Clara, but don't hold that against him. After all, everyone's an economist. We all make daily decisions that rely, consciously or not, on an acute understanding of economic theory--from picking the fastest checkout tine at the supermarket to voting or not voting, from negotiating the best job offer to finding the right person to marry.

Hidden Order is an essential guide to rational living, revealing all you need to know to get through each day without being eaten alive. Friedman's wise and immensely accessible book is perfect for amateur economists, struggling economics students, young parents and professionals--just about anyone who wants a clear-cut approach to why we make the choices we do and a sensible strategy for how to make the right ones.

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To David Friedman (son of Milton Friedman), economics explains everything. In a way, that's an odd thing for him to say: Friedman Jr. has never taken an economics course in his life (by training he's a physicist). Yet he defines economics broadly and uses it as a tool to understand all aspects of human behavior, from selecting a mate to picking a grocery store line to switching lanes in rush-hour traffic jams. If you like the economics-for-everyman approach of such writers as Steven E. Landsburg, then Friedman is for you. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Friedman puts the passion back into economics with this unconventional, demanding primer. A professor at Santa Clara University (and son of Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman), he insists that economics is not primarily about money, but rather about needs, wants, choices, values?an imperfect science predicated on the assumption that people tend to rationally choose the best way to achieve their objectives. Using scores of everyday examples to steer the reader through complex concepts, he discusses consumer preferences, street crime, lotteries, plea bargains in trials, sharecropping, financial speculation, political campaign spending and much else. He demystifies international trade (e.g., there's nothing inherently bad about a trade deficit) and deconstructs the economy as an interacting system all of whose elements are interdependent. A rewarding text for serious readers. Translation and U.K. rights: Writer's Representatives.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product details

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: HarperBusiness; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (July 18, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0887308856
ISBN-13: 978-0887308857
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 43 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5712 in Books > Business & Money > Economics

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Top customer reviews

U of Chicago economics theory meets the real world, mostly succeeds

ByJeffVINE VOICEon January 5, 2006

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Despite what I am about to say about the downsides of Friedman's approach, this is a book well worth reading. It's just a bit too sure that it has revealed all we need to know about motivations behind behaviors. On that point, I'm unconvinced. More on that in a moment.

As noted by most reviewers, he does a credible job in the first part of the book explaining the basics of economics. The graphs are a bit difficult if it is the reader's first exposure to economics, but I found his verbal explanations to be clear and compelling.

He then goes on to apply this knowledge to a panoply of real world situations. His discussions on taxation, pollution, and product liability are quite thought provoking. If the reader isn't rethinking some cherished beliefs by this point, then he is either is already a U of C economics diehard or didn't pay enough attention. Capital stuff!

I wish he had left out the very last section of the book. There he applies the same rationalistic approach to behaviors such as gift giving or punishing drug users. He fails to satisfy in both cases.

He's largely puzzled why people choose to give gifts to people they like rather than money. He offers 'paternalism' as a possible explanation, but since paternalism's rewards seemingly can't be measured in terms of value, he gives up the topic, moves on, and leaves the reader hanging. Well developed theories of the basis of social power from psychology offer more well developed and satisfying explanations of gift giving and are also borne out in well run experiments.

Similarly, it would seem that his beliefs applied to the question of drugs would make legalization the most rationale path. Surprisingly, he only wants to discuss the punishment alternatives for hard drug usage because he assumes that all hard drug users steal to support their habits. This then enables him to analyze the cost to society which then enables him to examine a range of punishment alternatives. That's fine as far as it goes, but it begs the discussion for the vast majority of illegal drug users who stick to so-called soft drugs. It also leaves unspoken whether all illegal drugs ought to be legal for people wealthy enough not have to steal to support their illegal purchases.

There's a whole range of widespread human behaviors which cannot be explained satisfactorily by this type of analysis. Using hard drugs, participating in extremely dangerous sports, and masochism come to mind.

So the 'uber-explanation' of all human behaviors in the last section of the book takes away substantively from the rest of the book. Since this train of thought in the first 80% of the book has lept from economics to the theory of law over the last 25 years via scholars such as Posner and Coase, it now influences much public policy discussion and judicial thinking today. For that reason alone, this book is worth reading. This is not 'just about economics' just as it is not 'all you need to know about what motivates human behavior'.

0Comment 8 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Great!

ByFGon October 22, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

As usual, D. Friedman surprises amateur and profesional economists alike, with insightful and interesting applications of economic principles to situations that conventionally non-economical. Everyone will learn from it.

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Excellent

BySlimon April 20, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Makes the complexity of economics accessible without calculus. Reread about once a year to remind yourself how things really work.

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Easygoing economics

ByAnother avid readeron June 26, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Explains a lot of economic principles in a generally easy to read way with real life examples. For those who've never studied economics this is a good introduction which is definitely not dry like some textbooks. The book blurb in the dustjacket is however more enthusiastic than the book deserves, as is the case with book blurbs.

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Clever and fun

ByA customeron March 4, 2001

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

David Friedman has done remarkable job in writing an intellectually challenging yet very readable and enjoyable exposee of modern economics.
What sets his book apart from the rest is the use of realistic examples and not the usual textbook apples-to-oranges consumer preferences. Friedman discusses e.g. why is popcorn expensive in movie theaters, is it worth driving to a neighboring town for a bargain sale, who benefits from export duties on japanese cars and economic consequences of divorce.
All of this is rigorous but without mathematics. All of this sounds convincing: rationality assumption of consumers (or economic agents in general) is shown to produce miracles in economics. David Friedman, son of Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman, takes his axiomatic economics sometimes too far: for example, he believes, like his father, that destabilizing speculation does not exist. Reading Kindleberger's Manias, Panics and Crashes will cure anybody of this folly.
Friedmans text is lucid, the reading experience is exhilarating. If there had been economics books like in my youth, I would have become an economist (and not a physisct like David Friedman !)

0Comment 11 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Five Stars

BySarahon September 6, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The book is excellent if you are interested in economics. It arrived quickly as described.

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fantastic book

Bydeborah mannon January 20, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A really interesting read explaining economic topics with examples without dumbing it down. I appreciated the inclusion of graphs and the accompanying explanations

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explains more about the world than any books outside the bible, the works of Shakespeare or the brothers Karamazov

ByCritical Readeron August 24, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

explains more about the world than any books outside the bible, the works of Shakespeare or the brothers Karamazov

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

Quite possibly the worst book I have read in my entire life

This is the book we used for a Microeconomics course. Quite possibly the worst book I have read in my entire life. Completely awful.Read more

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer

Four Stars

Good read.

Published on July 10, 2015 by Kevin Castillo-Lopez

Thanks

I'm impressed with the condition of the book. I expected it to be a bit rough looking but it turned out looking almost brand new.

Published on February 7, 2014 by Alexia

Outstanding book

Opens your eyes to so many topics and subjects involving, money finance and economics in general that most people would otherwise be clueless about.Read more

Published on October 2, 2013 by Ender

Read this for a Microeconomics course

This book would probably teach you as many concepts as your humdrum Intro to Mircoeconomics book could.Read more

Published on July 13, 2012 by Maci

Okay book

This is a decent book but it's problem is that it is not intended towards a particular audience. Readers familiar with economics will find the theoretical parts of the book to be...Read more

Published on March 6, 2011 by Justin

Very accessible treatment of microeconomics

Economics, actual microeconomics, is so accessible in this text.

Friedman takes special care to keep the book humorous, but it functions as a primer on microeconomics...Read more

Published on November 27, 2009 by A.H.

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