The Logic Of Life: The Rational Economics Of An Irrational World

Life sometimes seems illogical. Individuals do strange things like taking drugs, having unprotected sex, mugging each other. Love and divorce also appear irrational. On a larger scale, life seems unfair and difficult to understand. Why do some neighborhoods thrive while others become ghettos? Why is racism so persistent? Why is your boss paid a fortune for sitting behind a mahogany desk? Thorny questions—and you might be surprised to hear the answers from an economist.

But Tim Harford, award-winning journalist and author of the bestseller The Undercover Economist, likes to spring surprises. In this deftly reasoned book, Harford argues that life is logical after all. Under the surface of everyday insanity, hidden incentives are at work, and Harford shows these incentives emerging in the most unlikely places.

Using tools ranging from animal experiments to supercomputer simulations, a new breed of economist is trying to unlock the secrets of society. The Logic of Life is the first book to map out the astonishing insights and frustrating blind spots of this new economics in a way that anyone can enjoy.

The Logic of Life presents an X-ray image of human life, stripping away the surface to show us a revealing, enthralling, and sometimes disturbing picture. The stories are not about data or equations but about the athlete who survived a shocking murder attempt, the computer geek who beat poker pros, the economist who defied Henry Kissinger and faked an invasion of Berlin, and the king who tried to buy off a revolution.

Once you’ve read this quotable and addictive book, life will never look the same again.