The Logic of Life is published in the US by Random House in January 2008 (US cover to the right) and in the UK by Little Brown in February 2008. You can buy the book here.
“Life often seems to defy logic. When a prostitute agrees to unprotected sex, or a teenage criminal embarks on a burglary, or a smoker lights another cigarette, we seem to be a million miles from what we would call rational behaviour. None of this makes sense – or does it? Tim Harford thinks it does. And by weaving stories from locations as diverse as a Las Vegas casino and a Soho speed-date together with insights from an ingenious new breed of economist, he aims to persuade you that we are all, in fact, surprisingly logical. Reading this book, you’ll discover that the unlikeliest of people – racists, drug addicts, revolutionaries and rats – comply with economic logic, always taking account of future costs and benefits, even if they don’t quite realise it. It even explains why your boss is overpaid…”
People who like the book
Tim Harford is an economist but—thanks be to God—he doesn’t write like one. The Logic of Life is as lively as it is smart, charming, penetrating, and wise. If you are at all interested in knowing much more than you do about how the world works, you couldn’t ask for a better guide than Harford.
Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics
The Logic of Life offers a fascinating discussion of the use of modern economic reasoning to explain humorous and serious aspects of everyday life. Harford shows, among many other things, that this logic explains why punishments deter crimes, why ‘johns’ have to pay more to prostitutes to get unprotected sex, and why divorce rates have risen but then stabilized after the contraceptive pill was introduced, and after many married women began working. I strongly recommend this book, especially to those who want their economics to be fun as well as important.
Gary S. Becker, 1992 Nobel Laureate in Economics
In this witty, intelligent book, Tim Harford illuminates the hidden social order behind sex, Las Vegas, divorce, your boss–in short, all the things you care about in life. Quite simply, The Logic of Life will help you see the entire world in a new light. I love this book!
Tyler Cowen, author of Discover Your Inner Economist and MarginalRevolution.com
Like his 2006 book, The Undercover Economist–if you haven’t got it, get it–this book uses the basic theory of rational choice to make transparent the logic behind common but important puzzling phenomena. Even a trained economist can enjoy discovering what he already knew but didn’t realize he knew it. I did.
Thomas C. Schelling, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Economics
This is a terrific read. It’s one those books that forever changes the way you look at things. It proves economics is not a subject for dull textbooks; but is really a way of thinking that can shed light on all aspects of life.
Evan Davis, BBC Economics Editor
Links
Plenty of video clips, from an hour at Google to four minutes on The Colbert Report - all here.
Read reviews.
Buy the book online.
