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The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas
by Robert Frank

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629238.The_Economic_Naturalist_In_Search_of_Explanations_for_Everyday_Enigmas?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176486178m/629238.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629238.The_Economic_Naturalist_In_Search_of_Explanations_for_Everyday_Enigmas?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/48591.Robert_Frank">Robert Frank</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8226536?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 2 of 5 stars The Economic Naturalist by Cornell professor Robert H. Frank has an admirable goal: To take economics beyond boring textbooks filled with abstract graphs and equations, and bring it into focus for the everyday world in which we live. He aims to show the world in such a way that will inspire the reader to develop an economic way of thinking. Through a series of one to two page explanations ranging from "Why is milk sold in rectangular containers, while soft drinks are sold in round ones?" to "Why aren't there any top-ranked for-profit universities?" Frank is successful to show how economics can be a lens worth looking through when trying to make sense of the world. Interestingly enough however, all too often he himself fails to look through this lens enough. Where he falters most obviously is in his attempts to justify absurd laws which are the antithesis to a economic naturalist way of thinking. One example is in Frank's support for New York City's laws which support a taxi monopoly. He says:
 
 In part to help relieve street congestion, the city issues only a limited number of medallions, which makes fewer taxis available than there would be if entry into the market were unregulated. 
 One result is that medallion owners enjoy a measure of market power that, unchecked, would enable them to charge rates far in excess of the actual cost of ferrying passengers. And so it is common for cities to regulate not just the number of taxis that can operate but also the fares they are permitted to charge. The aim of these regulations is not just to protect consumers from unfair treatment but to promote more efficient decisions about taxi use.
 
 A true economic naturalist would look at the broader picture and allow for the development of the infinitely more complex yet natural economic relationships to play out. For example, if there were more taxis on the road wouldn't be likely to be competing against each other thus driving prices down and make taking a taxi more desirable? Or would this increased congestion balance lower prices out and make taking a taxi less desirable? Or to go even further: If taking a taxi were less desirable wouldn't people be less likely to travel into Manhattan and be more likely to spend their money at places closer to home thus creating and new opportunities for all kinds of businesses? Conversely, in this natural economic world might there not even be a net increase in congestion? Perhaps more taxis at cheaper rates would create fewer incentives for people to drive their own cars in the city. This would not only reduce the cars on the street but also the vast parking garages and lots used to store those cars when they sit idle. The point is, who knows exactly how it would play out but however it did, there would be a natural economic balance.
 
 Unfortunately these are the kinds of questions Frank fails to ask. In too many of his examples Frank seems content to agree with the extent to which the natural economic world has been allowed to develop. He seems less concerned with analyzing what the world could be if truly natural economic conditions were allowed to play out. But what makes this most disappointing is that the result is a book whose detail and explanations are good for cocktail party conversations but little more. If his aim is to captivate the next generation of would be economists he'll have to do more than that.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/158609?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Ryan's review
rating:

bookshelves: non-fiction
status: Read in October, 2007

The Economic Naturalist by Cornell professor Robert H. Frank has an admirable goal: To take economics beyond boring textbooks filled with abstract graphs and equations, and bring it into focus for the everyday world in which we live. He aims to show the world in such a way that will inspire the reader to develop an economic way of thinking. Through a series of one to two page explanations ranging from "Why is milk sold in rectangular containers, while soft drinks are sold in round ones?" to "Why aren't there any top-ranked for-profit universities?" Frank is successful to show how economics can be a lens worth looking through when trying to make sense of the world. Interestingly enough however, all too often he himself fails to look through this lens enough. Where he falters most obviously is in his attempts to justify absurd laws which are the antithesis to a economic naturalist way of thinking. One example is in Frank's support for New York City's laws which supp...more The Economic Naturalist by Cornell professor Robert H. Frank has an admirable goal: To take economics beyond boring textbooks filled with abstract graphs and equations, and bring it into focus for the everyday world in which we live. He aims to show the world in such a way that will inspire the reader to develop an economic way of thinking. Through a series of one to two page explanations ranging from "Why is milk sold in rectangular containers, while soft drinks are sold in round ones?" to "Why aren't there any top-ranked for-profit universities?" Frank is successful to show how economics can be a lens worth looking through when trying to make sense of the world. Interestingly enough however, all too often he himself fails to look through this lens enough. Where he falters most obviously is in his attempts to justify absurd laws which are the antithesis to a economic naturalist way of thinking. One example is in Frank's support for New York City's laws which support a taxi monopoly. He says:

In part to help relieve street congestion, the city issues only a limited number of medallions, which makes fewer taxis available than there would be if entry into the market were unregulated.
One result is that medallion owners enjoy a measure of market power that, unchecked, would enable them to charge rates far in excess of the actual cost of ferrying passengers. And so it is common for cities to regulate not just the number of taxis that can operate but also the fares they are permitted to charge. The aim of these regulations is not just to protect consumers from unfair treatment but to promote more efficient decisions about taxi use.

A true economic naturalist would look at the broader picture and allow for the development of the infinitely more complex yet natural economic relationships to play out. For example, if there were more taxis on the road wouldn't be likely to be competing against each other thus driving prices down and make taking a taxi more desirable? Or would this increased congestion balance lower prices out and make taking a taxi less desirable? Or to go even further: If taking a taxi were less desirable wouldn't people be less likely to travel into Manhattan and be more likely to spend their money at places closer to home thus creating and new opportunities for all kinds of businesses? Conversely, in this natural economic world might there not even be a net increase in congestion? Perhaps more taxis at cheaper rates would create fewer incentives for people to drive their own cars in the city. This would not only reduce the cars on the street but also the vast parking garages and lots used to store those cars when they sit idle. The point is, who knows exactly how it would play out but however it did, there would be a natural economic balance.

Unfortunately these are the kinds of questions Frank fails to ask. In too many of his examples Frank seems content to agree with the extent to which the natural economic world has been allowed to develop. He seems less concerned with analyzing what the world could be if truly natural economic conditions were allowed to play out. But what makes this most disappointing is that the result is a book whose detail and explanations are good for cocktail party conversations but little more. If his aim is to captivate the next generation of would be economists he'll have to do more than that....less

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