Marginalia

The Economist reviews The Logic of Life

Here’s a sample:

The book surveys shelf after shelf of the economics literature but in such skilful hands it does not feel like a dutiful trip to the library. Economists are often too beguiled by elegant theories, but Mr Harford wisely confines himself to ideas that have been carefully tested against real life. Only thorough research could discern that residents of high-rise buildings are more likely to be victims of crime, because stacked tenants make for poor monitors of the surrounding streets. Even the excellent chapter on game theory has a practical hero: the card player, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, who applied its lessons to win the poker world championship in 2000.
Mr Harford, who works at the Financial Times, is an amiable guide for the non-specialist reader, neither too lofty nor dumbed-down. The book’s tone is breezy, but his command of the subject is such that even a well-schooled economist will discover much that is new.

The whole thing is here; I’m collecting reviews here.

See me torn to shreds by Stephen Colbert

I have a new video section on the site; notable links include a serious talk at Google and a not-so-serious appearance on The Colbert Report. More reviews are coming in, too.

Toronto event cancelled

I was due to appear at The Gladstone Hotel Gallery, 1214 Queen St West, Toronto Thurs Jan 31; 7:30 pm (doors 7pm), but sadly not. The event is cancelled and I’m very sorry about this. I’ve been routed back to New York to do TV there instead & will arrive in Toronto too late for the planned event. I apologise.

UK edition of The Logic of Life is out

While I have been on tour, my UK publishers decided to publish “The Logic of Life” early and not tell me. Do please consider buying a copy.

Logic of Life in the New York Times

The New York Times has reviewed The Logic of Life. I’m pleased:

The world is a crazy place. It makes perfect sense only to conspiracy theorists and economists of a certain stripe. Tim Harford, a columnist for The Financial Times and the author of “The Undercover Economist,” is one of these, a devotee of rational-choice theory, which he applies ingeniously and entertainingly to all kinds of problems in “The Logic of Life.”…
Mr. Harford has a knack for explaining economic principles and problems in plain language and, even better, for making them fun.

You can read other reviews here.

Tour dates

Over the next few weeks I’ll be touring the US, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, and will also be giving talks in several UK cities. Please drop in and say hello! Public events, many of them free, are now listed here.

Update: More talks added in Washington DC, Wellington and Singapore.

Australian tour dates

In late February I am visiting Singapore, Australia and New Zealand to talk about “The Logic of Life”. Here are some of the Australian events. Further details to follow as I have them:

PERTH Friday 22 February

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“A rational man” – profile in The Bookseller

Late last year, Neill Denny of The Bookseller wrote a nice profile of me. You can read it all if you’d like, or here is an extract:

“Rational choice theory is the way most economists see the world; the interesting bit is when they use that and they say: ‘Let’s talk about drugs, let’s talk about marriage’, in the same way that they would talk about buying a cup of coffee,”he says.

The chapters have alluring titles such as “The Dangers of Rational Racism”and “Is Divorce Under-rated?”Each is pretty self-contained, stuffed full of some big ideas, but they link together to form an overall whole.

The Logic of Life is nearly here…

At long last, the moment has arrived. The Logic of Life should be available in bookshops across the US and Canada with a few days, and shipping from online retailers. The book tour starts next week – wish me luck! You can also order it here, read early reviews here, and find out more here.

Publishers Weekly reviews The Logic of Life

“Financial Times and Slate.com columnist Harford (The Undercover Economist) provides an entertaining and provocative look at the logic behind the seemingly irrational. Arguing that rational behavior is more widespread than most people expect, Harford uses economic principles to draw forth the rational elements of gambling, the teenage oral sex craze, crime and other supposedly illogical behaviors to illustrate his larger point. Utilizing John von Neumann and Thomas Schelling’s conceptions of game theory, Harford applies their approach to a multitude of arenas, including marriage, the workplace and racism. Contrarily, he also shows that individual rational behavior doesn’t always lead to socially desired outcomes. Harford concludes with how to apply this thinking on an even bigger scale, showing how rational behavior shapes cities, politics and the entire history of human civilization. Well-written with highly engaging stories and examples, this book will be of great interest to Freakonomics and Blink fans as well as anyone interested in the psychology of human behavior.”

I’ll try not to post too often about The Logic of Life, but since it’s published in mid-January in the US and early February in the UK, there may be a post or two. You can find out more here.