The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World Tim Harford Anchor Canada February 24, 2009 In The Logic of Life , bestselling author Tim Harford quite simply makes sense of this world. Life often seems to defy logic. The receptionist is clearly smarter than the boss who earns fifty times her salary. Arbitrary lines starkly divide the desirable districts of the city from the dangerous ones. Voters flock to the polling booths to elect candidates wholl rip them off to favour special interests. None of it makes logical sense or does it? Economist and acclaimed author Tim Harford thinks it does. By weaving stories from locations as diverse as a Vegas casino to a barroom speed date, Harford aims to persuade you that people are, in fact, surprisingly logical. When a street prostitute agrees to unprotected sex, or a teenage criminal embarks on a burglary perhaps especially when a racist employer disregards a black job applicant we would seem to be a million miles from rational behaviour. Harford shows that, discomfitingly, we are not. It turns out that the unlikeliest of people are complying with the logic of economics and responding to future costs and benefits, often without realizing it; and socially tragic outcomes can have their roots in individually rational decisions. Brilliantly reasoned, always entertaining and often provocative, The Logic of Life is a book to help you understand yourself and the world around you. From the Hardcover edition. About the Author Tim Harford is the bestselling author of The Undercover Economist, and a member of the editorial board of the Financial Times, where he also writes the Dear Economist column. He is a regular contributor to Slate, Forbes, and NPRs Marketplace. Hartford has been an economist at the World Bank and an economics tutor at Oxford University. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.From the Hardcover edition. About Iceberg The Iceberg Reader revolutionizes the reading experience, making it easier than ever to browse, buy and enjoy books. Features - Attractive interface provides a natural reading experience with full pagination. - Table of Contents incorporates one click navigation. - Vertical and horizontal page orientation. - Adjust font size with a pinch, text reflows automatically. - Search the text within a book. - Create margin notes with user notation. About Random House of Canada Random House of Canada Limited is the Canadian division of Random House, Inc. Our Canadian publishing program is home to such best-selling and award-winning Canadian and international authors as Christie Blatchford, Senator Romeo Dallaire, Camilla Gibb, John Irving, Vincent Lam, Lori Lansens, Yann Martel, Audrey Niffeneger, David Adams Richards and Alexander McCall Smith. Random House, Inc. is the world's largest publisher of general interest hardcover, paperback and audio adult and children's fiction and nonfiction books, and is the book publishing division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's foremost media companies. About Scrollmotion ScrollMotion, creator of the Iceberg Reader, is a content technology company based in New York City. For more information, visit www.scrollmotion.com. Support If you have any technical problems please email us at icebergsupport@scrollmotion.com before you post a review.
