Throughout history, great philosophers have been answering profound questions about life. But do they know why your socks keep disappearing from th...
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reviews
Jan 06, 2012
Grant
rated it: 
This book left me disappointed, built off the interest of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything I thought that this seemed interesting. As I started to read through the "chapters" I was getting less interested in what the book had to offer. Given the format of a 200 word response to each question, the amount of economics was very limited. Although it did mention a general theory of why something happens, I would not even feel satisfied if I had personal
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Aug 04, 2011
A fantastic book for anyone who enjoys reading Harford and for anyone who wants a book with some economic theory but not to much theory. The book is a collection of letters and responses sent to Harford's column "Dear Undercover Economist" in the FT. The chapters are built according to topic of letter - love life and dating, family life, career and etc. Some of Harford's replies to his writers are hilarious when looking at the question posed to him (especially in the dating and love li
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Mar 14, 2011
Traci
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In Dear Undercover Economist, the first collection of his wildly popular Financial Times columns, Tim Harford offers witty, charming, and at times caustic answers to our most pressing concerns - all through the lens of economics. Does money buy happiness? Is "the one" really out there? Can cities be greener than farms? Can you really "dress for success"? When's the best time to settle down? Harford provides brilliant, hilarious, unexpected, and wise answers to these and other
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Dec 26, 2009
Rydh
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From a review by Robert Formaini of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas available from The Cato Journal:
Chapter 8 is a trenchant discussion of why poor nations are poor, using Cameroon as an exemplar. It is here that the book gets back on track. Harford rejects all the fashionable explanations for poverty in the third world and shows that corrupt governments are the general cause of all such ongoing economic basket cases. It is a devastating critique of “expert aid agencies” planningMore...
Aug 31, 2009
Susannah
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Since I haven't read it what I'm reviewing here would be its potential - based on the amusing interview of its author I heard on my way to work this morning.
His view on the best solution to whether to put the toilet seat up or down:
'From a straight efficiency standpoint, the way to prevent people from having to move the seat up or down more than absolutely necessary, is for them to just leave it as it is when they are finished. For all they know they will be the next one back in th More...
His view on the best solution to whether to put the toilet seat up or down:
'From a straight efficiency standpoint, the way to prevent people from having to move the seat up or down more than absolutely necessary, is for them to just leave it as it is when they are finished. For all they know they will be the next one back in th More...
Jan 18, 2011
Helvry
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Secara umum buku ini membahasakan teori ekonomi dengan sederhana. Ada teori mengenai kuasa kelangkaan, yaitu produsen akan menaikkan harga jualnya pada konsumen karena ia memiliki kuasa kelangkaan menyediakan barang/jasa. Saya langsung teringat pada T**KO*S*L, karena ia pionir layanan selular makanya tarifnya gila-gilaan. Makin ada pesaing, barulah ia menurunkan tarif. Lalu ada Eksternalitas. Sederhananya, eksternalitas itu ibarat seorang perokok pasif yang terhirup asap rokok dari perokok aktif
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Nov 11, 2009
Terrie
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I'm a huge fan of behavioral/pop economics, and thoroughly enjoyed this one. If you've read his FT columns regularly, this is obviously just a collection, but was well-organized. The last chapter was particularly amusing in that it provided economic answers to questions such as "why do I always lose socks in the laundry". I thought The Logic of Life fell far short of his first, so this was a pleasant surprise. I also love the phrase "small utility maximizer" as a synonym
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Sep 15, 2010
bahasanya lumayan sulit.. tapi cara pembawaannya baik n high-class. butuh konsentrasi tinggi utk baca-nya. Intinya: ada hal di balik kopi yg mahal. 1 kopi bisa mengandung harga utk bayar sewa tempat (semakin strategis semakin mahal), utk bayar pelayan (utk pelayanan yg maksimal), jadi jgn pernah berpikir kopi hanyalah kopi biasa. Seseorang bertransaksi ada di posisi yg menguntungkan dan leading ketika dia punya sesuatu utk dijual yg mana langka atau tidak dimiliki oleh org lain.. semoga saya bis
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Jan 23, 2010
Francis
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This book probably gets about 3.5 stars from me, with a slight rounding up. This book is a collection of advice columns written by the Undercover Economist for the Financial Times over a period of years, essentially attempting to highlight the economist's view of the world (ruthlessly rational, challenging assumptions about social etiquette or common sense) by applying economical reasoning to typical "everyday" problems that people might have. The answers are often couched in somewhat
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May 22, 2011
Katie
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I usually really enjoy what I refer to as pop-culture economics books.
However, I felt this collection of Q&A falls short of its competition (Freakonomics, Superfreakonomics, anything by Gladwell, etc). The question submissions claim to be legitimate, but to me, they seem ridiculous, almost banal, that I found it difficult to read.
Bottom line: I suggest you skip this one, unless you are a true economics junky.
However, I felt this collection of Q&A falls short of its competition (Freakonomics, Superfreakonomics, anything by Gladwell, etc). The question submissions claim to be legitimate, but to me, they seem ridiculous, almost banal, that I found it difficult to read.
Bottom line: I suggest you skip this one, unless you are a true economics junky.
Sep 15, 2011
first captivated sentence : ternyata pola commuting (di luar dugaan)yang memiliki bottle neck dan peak hour dieksploitasi oleh para entrepreneur di seluruh dunia.
Membayangkan kurang dari sebulan lagi akan menjadi newbie di dunia commuter... apakah saya akan terdistract mampir ke kedai kopi atau tetap teguh pendirian mengejar kereta ke kampus??? :D
Membayangkan kurang dari sebulan lagi akan menjadi newbie di dunia commuter... apakah saya akan terdistract mampir ke kedai kopi atau tetap teguh pendirian mengejar kereta ke kampus??? :D
Jan 26, 2011
Ferdyansyah
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bukunya ringan,trus kocak.....cocok banget buat masyarakat awam yang pengen tau ekonomi tuh kayak mana,,,tapi kalo buat anak ekonomi ini tuh isinya kayak mata kuliah pengantar ekonomi pas semester 1 tapi gak ada itung-itungannya.........
Jul 30, 2010
Amy
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While entertaining the thing that I really enjoyed about "plain terms" economics books (such as the Undercover Economist and Freakonomics) is the more in-depth explanations than a 3 paragraph column can offer. Close but no cigar.
Sep 03, 2009
Stephanie
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I LOVE IT. As someone who holds a graduate degree in econ, to see ideas I toiled to learn applied to items that are actually useful and humorous makes me feel it was somewhat worth it. Plus it is just devastatingly funny!
Sep 22, 2011
Henri
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have to admit that mr Harford really can explain things easily and entertainingly. Many of thing that he brought up I knew, but still he explained those from an angle that really made it valuable to keep on reading.
Jul 26, 2011
Collected from the columns in the British _Financial Times_, economic theory is applied with smartass wit to speed dating, Christmas, bringing bad wine to dinner parties and the cost-benefits ratio of giving out cheap candy at Halloween.
Jul 23, 2011
Paul
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Nice, quick and fun to read book. Harford's advice is not always helpful but it certainly is interesting. It is amazing the variety of questions that you can find answers for from an economic perspective.
Oct 30, 2011
Shane
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Easy reading, sometimes informative, mostly amusing in the British way. A decent follow-up to the author's book, The Undercover Economist, but not really serious reading.
Jul 26, 2011
Spazfungus
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This collection of Q&As is a fun quick read, often restating what is in Harford's (and various other behavioral eonomic authors) other books
Jun 17, 2011
Sameen
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This book is fabulous. It is like you enter a parallel universe. It's great to see how "problems" as we call them can be interpreted in such a pragmatic approach. Great fun to read!
Jan 25, 2010
saya membaca edisi terjemahan ke basa indonesia, saya susah dalam mencerna isinya...
Mar 26, 2010
apakah buku ini membongkar misteri kapitalisme???...jadi pengen cepet dibaca
Jun 18, 2011
The first in he series of Economics in everyday books. Recommend for anyone curious about economics. Extremely accessible.
Dec 29, 2009
Sean
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Funny, entertaining, educational, and occasionally completely misguided, this book one peculiar way of looking at the world. Is it sensible? Sometimes. Is it engaging? Mostly. Funny? Yes!
