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    The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life
    The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life
    The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life

    Written by Steven E. Landsburg

    Narrated by Kyle Tait

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The extensively revised and updated edition of Steven Landsburg's hugely popular book, The Armchair Economist-"a delightful compendium of quotidian examples illustrating important economic and financial theories" (The Journal of Finance).

    In this revised and updated edition of Steven Landsburg's hugely popular book, he applies economic theory to today's most pressing concerns, answering a diverse range of daring questions, such as:

    - Why are seat belts deadly?

    - Why do celebrity endorsements sell products?

    - Why are failed executives paid so much?

    - Who should bear the cost of oil spills?

    - Do government deficits matter?

    - How is workplace safety bad for workers?

    - What's wrong with the local foods movement?

    - Which rich people can't be taxed?

    - Why is rising unemployment sometimes good?

    - Why do women pay more at the dry cleaner?

    - Why is life full of disappointments?

    Whether these are nagging questions you've always had, or ones you never even thought to ask, this new edition of The Armchair Economist turns the eternal ideas of economic theory into concrete answers that you can use to navigate the challenges of contemporary life.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 27, 2018
    ISBN9781977336422
    The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life
    Author

    Steven E. Landsburg

    Steven E. Landsburg is a professor of economics at the University of Rochester. He is the author of More Sex Is Safer Sex and The Big Questions. He has written for Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate. He lives in Rochester, New York.

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    Reviews for The Armchair Economist

    3.5/5

    119 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 1/5
      I generally enjoy books that cover Economics topics for laymen, but I didn't like this one very much. The basics of the field are presented in a clear way, but the examples were often oversimplified to the point that they were distracting. His focus on economics isolated from all other aspects of society lead to him saying ridiculous things like, "taxes have no effect on the economy".
    • 4/5
      "Guided by the right theory of cornflakes - which is that families buy cornflakes in order to eat them and won't buy more than they want to eat - he might have realized that letting the government do people's shopping would not make them any hungrier."

      Amusing and though-provoking. Still, apparently it only takes five pages of economics to put me to sleep.
    • 4/5
      What I enjoyed most about this book was that the examples were so clear that I felt like I actually understood some of the basic principles of economy - and some of the things Mr. Landsburg said were very surprising to me. I also enjoyed his depiction of economists and how they are always trying to figure out the reasons behind problems that seem very simple on first glance (why does popcorn cost so much in the theater?). Very readable.
    • 4/5
      While I don't always agree with Landsburg's conclusions, this book is an interesting view of how to use economics to think about not just the major problems of society, but many everyday issues as well. So long as the concept of incentivized behavior is present, Landsburg seems interested and manage to convey the thought process quite well.
    • 5/5
      An entertaining look at the economic approach to everyday problems. (Like an in-depth version of Landsburg's column in Slate.) A great supplement to an introductory economics course, but also accessible to the lay reader.