The Undercover Economist

蒂姆·哈福德：《金融时报》“亲爱的经济学家”的专栏作家。在这个专栏中，他用最新的经济理论，为好奇心十足的读者提供轻松诙谐、深入浅出的答案。他同时还在世界银行工作，担任国际金融公司首席经济学家的主笔。之前，哈福德不但做过《金融时报》的经济学社评作家，还曾担任一家大型石油公司的经济学家、牛津大学的经济学教授。他现居华盛顿。可以从http://www.timharford.com/deareconomist/上阅读到哈福德的精彩评论。

出版者:Oxford University Press

作者:Tim Harford

页数:288

出版时间:2005-11-1

价格:CAD 28.95

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9780195189773

图书标签:经济学economics经济原版finance科普哈福德economy

An economist's version of The Way Things Work, this engaging volume is part field guide to economics and part expose of the economic principles lurking behind daily events, explaining everything from traffic jams to high coffee prices. The Undercover Economist is for anyone who's wondered why the gap between rich and poor nations is so great, or why they can't seem to find a decent second-hand car, or how to outwit Starbucks. This book offers the hidden story behind these and other questions, as economist Tim Harford ranges from Africa, Asia, Europe, and of course the United States to reveal how supermarkets, airlines, and coffee chains--to name just a few--are vacuuming money from our wallets. Harford punctures the myths surrounding some of today's biggest controversies, including the high cost of health-care; he reveals why certain environmental laws can put a smile on a landlord's face; and he explains why some industries can have high profits for innocent reasons, while in other industries something sinister is going on. Covering an array of economic concepts including scarce resources, market power, efficiency, price gouging, market failure, inside information, and game theory, Harford sheds light on how these forces shape our day-to-day lives, often without our knowing it. Showing us the world through the eyes of an economist, Tim Harford reveals that everyday events are intricate games of negotiations, contests of strength, and battles of wits. Written with a light touch and sly wit, The Undercover Economist turns "the dismal science" into a true delight.

读后感

经济学之类的普及书也算看过几本，这本读起来很轻松，因为选材很日常，就是很小的事，不似一些书拿些重大的事做经济分析得出一个让常人接受不了的结论，有普及的效果 给人惊艳之感的是最后一章写中国致富的，作者到过内地，算是亲身体验了改革开放的变化，言辞间对中国经济成就...  

经济学永远有人学，经济学普及类读物也永远有人读。此前本栏介绍过两本，《魔鬼经济学》和《在小吃店遇见凯恩斯》，这里要介绍一本此类型的新书《卧底经济学》。 　　也许前两本你都已经读过了，但是这不妨碍你再读这第三本，因为它们虽然都算经济学普及读物，但是题材上...  

1.星巴克为什么风靡？是他的服务很好，口味很佳，事实这两项都不是，真正的原因和房价一样，那就是位置，位置，位置！为了那个位置他们会和房东签排他协议，否则绝不入驻。那些昂贵的位置成就了他们，这也是国内咖啡厅没有学到的，于是只能卖环境，卖套餐 2.为什么大卖场的那...  

由開始到結束,整本書都趣味央然.儘管一些經濟學的名詞，如稀少性、價格、供求關係，外部不經濟等，都不是新鮮事物，但Harford文筆活潑，例子生動，寫來象閒話家常.讀着讀着，是呀，就是這樣的，便看完整本書了.書的的最後一章，分析中國經改的成功經驗，談國有企業的改革，言簡...  

在书城看的，会看的原因是《魔鬼经济学》的作者推荐了本书。 站着看这种费脑筋的书，多少有些不容易看进。而且论有趣，也远不如《魔鬼经济学》。唯一让我印象深刻的是，书的最后提到了上海、中国的电影。看来作者对中国还是有些了解的，除此之外可以说别无任何收获。 引进此...  

用户评价

太扯。话说见到Tim Harford 本人，人倒是很down-to-earth, 知识面极广，不过阐述观点时过于elaborate,听他讲话总是有种想按快进键的感觉==

我好想读这本书啊

The last two chapters are a little bit sketchy, but overall the book is very informative. Start to feel that economics is more meaningful than what I previously thought.

可入选for dummies系列的经济学书, 涉及概念: Scarcity; Price Sensitivity; Perfectly Competitive Market & Efficiency; Government control; Monopoly; Externalities; Asymmetric Information; Market & Government failure; Rationality; Game theory; Diminishing and Increasing Return; Globalization...中国经济腾飞重点讲的是毛邓两个代表性时代…对政府失灵的NHS例子深有体会，邻居4岁的娃重感冒找GP预约’紧急’会诊，结果排队到三天后= =

brings the power of economics to life。从细节出发，确实比较有意思