The Logic of Life by Tim Harford

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Of all the pop economics books I’ve read (at least 3!) in the last few years, this is my current favorite. Asserting that people act rationally — conventional economic wisdom for 300 years — is unconventional again, and this book does a nice job of putting that in some perspective.

It’s most notable for its survey of economic work that identifies off-beat, or less-visible “incentives” that cause people to behave as they do. It also provides a useful contrast to the economics laboratory studies that books like Predictably Irrational have been relying on to prove people are not inherently rational.

My only complaint is that since the author doesn’t provide any of his own research beyond the occasional anecdote, his survey of others’ work can be a bit thin and occasionally confusing. He has a newspaper writer’s knack for simplification, but oversimplification in a few instances prevented me from fully grasping the conclusions of some of the work he cites.

Overall, if you’re only going to read one pop econ book, this would be my pick.

Your thoughts?

P.S. If you don’t read Harford’s “Dear Undercover Economist” column in the FT, that’s always worth a laugh.

Ed. Note: I don’t know if this is a good place for this sort of thing, but it’s an attempt to consolidate a bit of my Web-based stuff in one place.  I am still confident that no one cares, don’t worry.