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把妹經濟學家：搞懂那隻看不見的手，才能取得戀愛的競爭優勢
「我知道，這樣講很老套，但，真的不是你的問題……。」
「你很棒，只是我現在還不想定下來、跟一個人認真交往。」
本書作者威廉．尼可森（William Nicolson），
在愛丁堡大學主修經濟與政治，現在倫敦某家法律事務所擔任實習律師，
在寫了長達八頁情書、談了六週戀愛後，女友送他以上兩句話，痛苦被甩。
威廉感覺內心被踐踏、不知哪裡做錯，
他決定把修讀過的經濟學拿來應用，透過那界限分明的理性世界，
拯救自己無知又過熱、奇慘無比的戀愛遭遇，想知道凱因斯怎麼救了他的愛情嗎？
「你很棒，只是我現在還不想定下來、跟一個人認真交往。」
本書作者威廉．尼可森（William Nicolson），
在愛丁堡大學主修經濟與政治，現在倫敦某家法律事務所擔任實習律師，
在寫了長達八頁情書、談了六週戀愛後，女友送他以上兩句話，痛苦被甩。
威廉感覺內心被踐踏、不知哪裡做錯，
他決定把修讀過的經濟學拿來應用，透過那界限分明的理性世界，
拯救自己無知又過熱、奇慘無比的戀愛遭遇，想知道凱因斯怎麼救了他的愛情嗎？
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2013
3 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 1, 2016
A fun refresher on some economic basics, within a cute story. It's a quick read and a worthwhile one.
December 31, 2025
Termino el año con esta joyita. Tanto si te interesa la economía como si no, este libro te resultará divertido e interesante si lo que buscas es algo de divulgación y una historia desenfadada. En lo referente a la historia, seguimos a Will, una versión joven del autor (unos 20 años) que, cansado de meter la pata en el amor, decide buscarlo aplicando conceptos de economía como los mercados, la oferta y la demanda, la teoría de juegos, etc. En cada uno de los capítulos la historia avanzará mientras se nos relaciona lo que haya pasado en dicho capítulo con algun concepto económico. Basicamente un recopilatorio de anecdotas universitaras que sirven como excusa para la economia. En lo personal me ha resultado bastante divertido porque son historietas universitarias que buscan ser divertidas y poco más; no obstante, al final Will sí que se vuelve un poco más capullo, pero tampoco he venido a este libro buscando juzgar la moral de nadie, así que... Igualmente uno se encuentra con una reflexión bastante original y tierna al final en el epílogo con una idea tan bonita como resulta el amor keynesiano. En fin, muy chulo y recomendable, hasta el año que viene.
August 22, 2014
Being an economic student myself, I was intrigued the moment my eyes caught the cover for this book. How could someone think to tangibly create relationships between economics and love? I strongly applaud William Nicolson's ability to do just that. Written by an economics student situated in London, The Romantic Economist takes us through his mental process of learning women and relationships, of supply and demand.
The ideas in this autobiography are not startling or revolutionary, they are the normal thoughts about relationships and love from an economics standpoint. Cleverly designed and orchestrated, I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience until the last chapter. I feel the author could have rounded out the ending better, with more of the thought and diagrams that littered the entire book prior.
The ideas in this autobiography are not startling or revolutionary, they are the normal thoughts about relationships and love from an economics standpoint. Cleverly designed and orchestrated, I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience until the last chapter. I feel the author could have rounded out the ending better, with more of the thought and diagrams that littered the entire book prior.
July 12, 2021
Well first off, he's not really an economist, he's a 26 year old trainee lawyer, who studied politics and economics at Edinburgh U. The book is a mix of humourous personal memoir with an attempt to framework relationships into a series of economic theories. This is not done particularly seriously and there isn't a whole lot of depth, more musing on aspects of supply and demand in the dating world rather than anything more complex. He does begin by the book by suggesting that love and affection needs to be withheld at the start of a relationship in order to restrict supply and increase demand, but then ends with reference to Keynesian principles suggesting that the same affection needs to be supplied in copious amounts in order to prime the pump and encourage other parties to produce (supply) more of the same thing.
January 24, 2018
Liked the different take on relationship-related-interactions, from an economist's viewpoint. Dragged on at some parts, but overall---very enlightening. The ending overthrows all the lessons though, :p and makes us remember that love is not something you can manage with perfect logic and theories. Sometimes it's necessary to go with your gut and take risks.
Will provide the initial review I wrote in my notebook once I have the time.
Will provide the initial review I wrote in my notebook once I have the time.
October 12, 2018
La verdad es que compre el libro basandome unicamente en el titulo porque me hizo gracia y tenia que ver cómo se podia aplicar la teoria economica al romance. Es interesante como se explican algunos conceptos y, como se aplkca la teoria de juegos, pero la verdad es que no estaba demasiado de acuerdo con lo que el autor proponia, son embargo, cuando en el final comenta los errores que encuentra a sus argumentos, el libro terminó de encantarme.
100%Recomendado.
100%Recomendado.
November 5, 2017
Hilarious, but not much new insight. Worth the light read.
May 19, 2019
It was a good read.
April 1, 2024
Muy entretenido, divertido además de educativo.
February 27, 2014
I picked this book up based on an interview I heard with the author on the radio. He seemed to have a humorous take and I was curious to see how his application of market principles to dating and interpretation thereof would compare to my own experiences as a dater and an economist. Some of the personal narratives are entertaining, but there is a great lag in the middle. Some of the metaphors and economic interpretations are a bit stretched. While reading this book, I was questioning myself the entire time as to whether dating is in any way a market with rational behavior (women?...as rational consumers!?) and even, if so, whether life is worth living applying such a lens to ones relationships. Aren't relationships about shared emotions and feelings rather than attempting to apply rational decision-making formulas to achieve individual utility maximization? Let's face it - applying economic decision-making models to relationship decisions just isn't a sexy approach! And isn't the most successful/rewarding long-term relationship model about making "we" decisions rather than individual determinations? You get all the way to the final chapter and the author finally reveals such a revelation within himself. Maybe it took him so long to get there because he wrote it based on experiences of a University student. When it comes to economics, I consider myself a proponent of Hayek and the Austrian School of thinking. In love, I believe a Keynesian approach is better suited...inspire trust and irrational optimism - "Even apart from the instability due to speculation, there is the instability due to the characteristic of human nature that a large proportion of our positive activities depend on spontaneous optimism rather than mathematical expectations, whether moral or hedonistic or economic. Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal spirits.
June 3, 2016
The Romantic Economist Book Review
“The Romantic Economist: A Story Of Love And Market Forces” by William Nicolson is a narrative about the economic principles that the author has attempted to integrate into his personal life. The book introduces the reader to many topics concerning the field of economics, including Thomas Hobbes’ idea that goods are only as valuable as what others think they are worth, the concept of perfect markets, and opportunity costs. In the early chapters, Nicolson discusses his recent breakups, describes economic ideas, then tells a story about what happened when he tried to make sense of romantic relationships in economic terms.
The Romantic Economist addresses several ideas, and points out to the reader that economics has many uses beyond simply production and consumption of goods. We do not see the impact of restricting supply as visibly in relationships as in a commodity market, but it may have a major impact on our lives. Sometimes we blunder into a relationship, only to realize that in the end, it simply will not work. However, we may remain in the relationship because we have already spent too much time and effort into the relationship - this is a “sunk cost fallacy.” When two people are in a relationship, they miss the chance for getting to know other people - this is the opportunity cost of being in a relationship. Opportunities are squandered if we do not make decisions based on what else we could be doing. The insight that Mlodinow gives is quite entertaining. Additionally, it is somewhat applicable to real-world situations. After all, we often find ourselves trying to get into a relationship, or get out of one.
An entertaining book, every reader should be able to put something from this book into use in their personal lives. I recommend the book for readers of all ages, particularly those interested in relationship dynamics, or those who like economics.
“The Romantic Economist: A Story Of Love And Market Forces” by William Nicolson is a narrative about the economic principles that the author has attempted to integrate into his personal life. The book introduces the reader to many topics concerning the field of economics, including Thomas Hobbes’ idea that goods are only as valuable as what others think they are worth, the concept of perfect markets, and opportunity costs. In the early chapters, Nicolson discusses his recent breakups, describes economic ideas, then tells a story about what happened when he tried to make sense of romantic relationships in economic terms.
The Romantic Economist addresses several ideas, and points out to the reader that economics has many uses beyond simply production and consumption of goods. We do not see the impact of restricting supply as visibly in relationships as in a commodity market, but it may have a major impact on our lives. Sometimes we blunder into a relationship, only to realize that in the end, it simply will not work. However, we may remain in the relationship because we have already spent too much time and effort into the relationship - this is a “sunk cost fallacy.” When two people are in a relationship, they miss the chance for getting to know other people - this is the opportunity cost of being in a relationship. Opportunities are squandered if we do not make decisions based on what else we could be doing. The insight that Mlodinow gives is quite entertaining. Additionally, it is somewhat applicable to real-world situations. After all, we often find ourselves trying to get into a relationship, or get out of one.
An entertaining book, every reader should be able to put something from this book into use in their personal lives. I recommend the book for readers of all ages, particularly those interested in relationship dynamics, or those who like economics.
February 7, 2015
A young economist-in-training gets dumped, yet again, and decides the solution to his problem is to start treating women as mathematical equations rather than emotional security blankets.
So I picked this up because I'd just read An Abundance of Katherines, a YA novel with basically the same conceit, except that a) it's fiction, b) the manchild protagonist has the excuse of actually still basically being a child, and c) there are wild boar attacks and secret hidden treasures to keep it interesting. This one, on the other hand, purports to be a grown-up book for grownups, and is nonfiction (although the protag is really only about twenty himself.)
Stick with An Abundance of Katherines. This one is awful in all imaginable ways. I was hoping it would at least end with the conclusion that romance actually shouldn't be based on economic theory, but instead he just concludes that he should have been using Keynesian economics instead of classical supply-side BS. (He also, in this last chapter, goes from first-person memoir-style writing to suddenly talking like "William" is a fictional character, not him, with no explanation, in a way that's almost worrying.)
On the plus side while adding this to Goodreads I discovered there's another book of the same title that's about applying the precepts of the 19th century artistic/cultural movement to economics. That one sounds much better.
So I picked this up because I'd just read An Abundance of Katherines, a YA novel with basically the same conceit, except that a) it's fiction, b) the manchild protagonist has the excuse of actually still basically being a child, and c) there are wild boar attacks and secret hidden treasures to keep it interesting. This one, on the other hand, purports to be a grown-up book for grownups, and is nonfiction (although the protag is really only about twenty himself.)
Stick with An Abundance of Katherines. This one is awful in all imaginable ways. I was hoping it would at least end with the conclusion that romance actually shouldn't be based on economic theory, but instead he just concludes that he should have been using Keynesian economics instead of classical supply-side BS. (He also, in this last chapter, goes from first-person memoir-style writing to suddenly talking like "William" is a fictional character, not him, with no explanation, in a way that's almost worrying.)
On the plus side while adding this to Goodreads I discovered there's another book of the same title that's about applying the precepts of the 19th century artistic/cultural movement to economics. That one sounds much better.
August 16, 2015
I would give it a 3.5. This book is pretty fun to read. It first caught my eyes when I was an A Level student doing A2 economics. It was about time when I had my revision and so I wanted to read something useful but also helping me relax.
It was an interesting idea to compare relationships with economic theories. I literally smiled and laughed at his jokes. However, I still didn't like the idea that love is comparable to economic models - I thought he would come up with the perfect end, telling us that there is no definite model for love. Instead, William went for a Keynesian model. So I was a bit disappointed (but, of course, the writer is entitled to his own view). I also find some of his examples unconvincing, despite the fact that they are hilarious.
Overall, it is a nice book to read but could have been more interesting if the models and concepts are better explained and examples are better expressed. I applaud him for his effort in making Economics revision much more interesting.
It was an interesting idea to compare relationships with economic theories. I literally smiled and laughed at his jokes. However, I still didn't like the idea that love is comparable to economic models - I thought he would come up with the perfect end, telling us that there is no definite model for love. Instead, William went for a Keynesian model. So I was a bit disappointed (but, of course, the writer is entitled to his own view). I also find some of his examples unconvincing, despite the fact that they are hilarious.
Overall, it is a nice book to read but could have been more interesting if the models and concepts are better explained and examples are better expressed. I applaud him for his effort in making Economics revision much more interesting.
May 5, 2016
I like the idea of implementing economic tools into relationship as book this is why I decided to grab this book, it is something different. I expect the book to be more entertainment reading during my force free time and it deliver sufficiently. The book is like a love story that was dissected with economic relevant to fit as an economic book but the actually fact it is an unromantic love story on how he get a new girlfriend from using his economic point of view after his breakup, called it as an rebound economic test 1 experiment. The highlight of this book was his life story in the different stages of the relationship, to me this was interesting plot of the book.
August 11, 2015
Un nuevo intento de cosificar o teorizar el amor pero ahora, intentando hacer gracia y fracasando estrepitósamente en ambas misiones.
215 páginas de pura mentalidad infantil mezclada con experiencias juveniles. Tales ni se pueden relacionar con mediano éxito con los ejemplos económicos que propone, siendo estos demasiado básicos: oferta, demanda y algo de teoría de juegos. Nivel de pre-novato.
Coloqué el libro sin querer al lado de "El arte de amar" de Fromm, y creo que he cometido un pecado más grave que el propio editor al publicar esta bazofia.
215 páginas de pura mentalidad infantil mezclada con experiencias juveniles. Tales ni se pueden relacionar con mediano éxito con los ejemplos económicos que propone, siendo estos demasiado básicos: oferta, demanda y algo de teoría de juegos. Nivel de pre-novato.
Coloqué el libro sin querer al lado de "El arte de amar" de Fromm, y creo que he cometido un pecado más grave que el propio editor al publicar esta bazofia.
October 3, 2013
Pretty mediocre. The narrator wasn't particularly interesting or sympathetic, and the real-life examples were spread too thin (and metaphors were too stretched). If you're interested in the topic, I would recommend Spousonomics: Using Economics to Master Love, Marriage, and Dirty Dishes instead.
May 21, 2014
Slight, moderately amusing look at romance through the eyes of an economics student whose lack of success with girls is all too believable. Aims to use economics to explain romance, but for those of us who have had a proper relationship (that's me, I've even seen a bare lady), it rather uses romance to give a brief cursory intro to economics. You won't learn much, but the time investment required is small, so...
April 1, 2014
The book is average. Right up until the last chapter, i didn't read anything new. It was interesting to read about the different relationship stages from the perspective of an economic theory. But the story in itself digressed with unnecessary details. Skip this one if you want.
May 2, 2014
It contains plenty of funny ideas and it's certainly entertaining but not very well written. His writing style is a bit jumbled and rich with grammatical errors. However, it's still worth reading.
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April 11, 2014646.77092 N654 2014
January 5, 2017
The last chapter made this book worthwhile.
January 4, 2020
Incredibly naive, basic writing and in places genuinely offensive- despite the acceptance of the flaws in his method I genuinely didn’t enjoy reading about it.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews