An excellent, easy-to-read introduction to modern economic thinking.
A series of lighthearted essays exploring how holidays reflect our economic system and society.
Ulbrich (Economics/Clemson Univ., Public Finance in Theory and Practice, 2011, etc.) acknowledges a lifelong fascination with holidays, noting that her given name, Holley, derives from a Celtic goddess, Mother Holle, who left gifts for good people and lumps of coal for those less virtuous. The author uses the term “holiday” in its broadest sense; few people consider Income Tax Day (April 15) or the solstices and equinoxes as true holidays, but she includes them among 28 observances to help explain economic theories to lay readers. Along the way, she connects economic behavior with nature, society and psychology. Ulbrich has unearthed obscure facts about the origins and histories of many holidays, so even readers well-versed in economics are likely to learn something new. Chapter headings such as “Valentine’s Day: Heartless Capitalism” and “National Volunteer Day: Working for Nothing” give a sense of the sometimes-playful approach she employs to humanize the “dismal science.” She uses Labor Day to focus on wages, Columbus Day to discuss immigration, Halloween to ponder risk-taking, Mother’s Day to salute working moms and Grandparent’s Day to examine Social Security. Even in “August—The Month with No Holidays,” she manages to find a credible topic: vacations. Along with her doctorate in economics, Ulbrich also holds a master’s degree in theological studies—an interest which becomes clearer as she traces the rise of behavioral and neoinstitutional economic models, which take into account cooperation, altruism and other behaviors. The author introduces arcane terms such as “opportunity cost,” “path-dependent state” and “tax expenditures” so smoothly that they go down like warm apple cider at a fall festival. Readers looking for meatier economic discussions may want to search elsewhere, but as a starter course, this book of bite-size treats satisfies.
An excellent, easy-to-read introduction to modern economic thinking.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-1458207623
Page Count: 138
Publisher: AbbottPress
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.
A well-constructed critique of an economic system that, by the author’s account, is a driver of the world’s destruction.
Harvard Business School professor Henderson vigorously questions the bromide that “management’s only duty is to maximize shareholder value,” a notion advanced by Milton Friedman and accepted uncritically in business schools ever since. By that logic, writes the author, there is no reason why corporations should not fish out the oceans, raise drug prices, militate against public education (since it costs tax money), and otherwise behave ruinously and anti-socially. Many do, even though an alternative theory of business organization argues that corporations and society should enjoy a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit, which includes corporate investment in what economists call public goods. Given that the history of humankind is “the story of our increasing ability to cooperate at larger and larger scales,” one would hope that in the face of environmental degradation and other threats, we might adopt the symbiotic model rather than the winner-take-all one. Problems abound, of course, including that of the “free rider,” the corporation that takes the benefits from collaborative agreements but does none of the work. Henderson examines case studies such as a large food company that emphasized environmentally responsible production and in turn built “purpose-led, sustainable living brands” and otherwise led the way in increasing shareholder value by reducing risk while building demand. The author argues that the “short-termism” that dominates corporate thinking needs to be adjusted to a longer view even though the larger problem might be better characterized as “failure of information.” Henderson closes with a set of prescriptions for bringing a more equitable economics to the personal level, one that, among other things, asks us to step outside routine—eat less meat, drive less—and become active in forcing corporations (and politicians) to be better citizens.
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5417-3015-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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