The Economic Naturalist

出版者:Basic Books

作者:Robert H. Frank

页数:240

出版时间:2007-5-21

价格:USD 26.00

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9780465002177

具体描述

The fascinating and playful guide to how economics explains the simple but profound ideas that govern our world.

Why do the keypads on drive-up cash machines have Braille dots? Why are round-trip fares from Orlando to Kansas City higher than those from Kansas City to Orlando?

For decades, Robert Frank has been asking his economics students to pose and answer questions like these as a way of learning how economic principles operate in the real world--which they do everywhere, all the time.

Once you learn to think like an economist, all kinds of puzzling observations start to make sense. Drive-up ATM keypads have Braille dots because it's cheaper to make the same machine for both drive-up and walk-up locations. Travelers from Kansas City to Orlando pay less because they are usually price-sensitive tourists with many choices of destination, whereas travelers originating from Orlando typically choose Kansas City for specific family or business reasons.

The Economic Naturalist employs basic economic principles to answer scores of intriguing questions from everyday life, and, along the way, introduces key ideas such as the cost benefit principle, the "no cash left on the table" principle, and the law of one price. There is no more delightful and painless way of learning these fundamental principles.

"Smart, snappy and delightful. Bob Frank is one of America's best writers on economics." -- Tyler Cowen, George Mason University, and author of In Praise of Commercial Culture and What Price Fame?

"Fascinating, mind-expanding, and lots of fun." -- Steven Pinker, Harvard University, and author of The Blank Slate, How the Mind Works, and The Stuff of Thought

作者简介

Robert H. Frank is a professor of Management and Professor of Economics at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University. His "Economic Scene" column appears monthly in The New York Times. He is the author of Choosing the Right Pond, The Winner-Take-All Society, and Luxury Fever, among others. He lives in Ithaca, New York.

读后感

用经济学解决图书馆霸位问题的初步构想 ▶周猫又 每学期最令人郁闷的事情莫过于复习周图书馆的霸位战争了。当你早早7点从床上挣扎起来准备去图书馆好好奋斗一天的时候，居然发现明明没人坐的位置上却被人用一大坨书堂而皇之地霸占着，”这他妈简直就是站着茅坑不XX！”...  

如果说这本书有什么意义的话, 那么它可能普及了一些经济学概念, 吸引人对经济学的兴趣, 如此而已. 我对这本书的总体评价应该说是相当负面的. 这本书, 在我看来, 展示的并非经济学的运用, 而是为日常现象提供一个可能的经济学解释. 而让本书失去价值的正是, 它仅仅寻求一种"可...  

首先要说的是，这本90%以上都不是自己东西的书到底能不能归自己所有。也许是因为大部分使其学生写出的（或许经过了修改）但是全面调查这么多问题是不可能的，所以就出现了学生水平和作者不了解所局限出的看问题的不完备性，为了解决问题，总是强调问题的一个面而忽略其他方面，...  

用户评价

Using economics to explain real life phenomenon. Worth Reading.

比较不喜欢这些经济学快餐书。适合作为初级微观的课外读物

absolutely love it. Would recommend my son or daughter to read it in the future

比较不喜欢这些经济学快餐书。适合作为初级微观的课外读物

absolutely love it. Would recommend my son or daughter to read it in the future