The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas

by Robert H. Frank

Book Overview

Have you ever wondered why there is a light in your fridge but not in your freezer? Or why 24-hour shops bother having locks on their doors? Or why soft drink cans are cylindrical, but milk cartons... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 046500217X
• ISBN13: 9780465002177
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Perseus Books
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

A good complement for any introductory economics course

This book, in contrast to Freakonomics, the Undercover Economist, or other book of that sort, actually explains all basic economics principles and tools that you use both implicitly and explicitly in economics, such as the cost-benefit principle, supply and demand, working with marginal terms, etc. So it really can be used as a good complement to any introductory course in economics, mainly because it helps connecting all the models, graphical and mathematical explanations with the effects they produce in real life.

Educational and Great Fun

As a person who has never taken a formal economics course in his life, this book has been a fascinating and fun and painless introduction. Mainly following an intriguing-question-revealing-answer format, the author guides the reader through the basic principles of economics. Enigmas from everyday life are posed, analyzed and resolved in an economics context. The writing style is very clear, friendly, authoritative and engaging. This is a book that I will likely re-read sometime in the future - not only to get even more out of it but for the sheer enjoyment. This book (or at least many parts of it) should be of interest to just about everyone because the many wide-ranging and intriguing questions that are discussed.

Fabulous Book!

I could not put this easy-reading, fascinating book down. I learned more in an hour that I think I could have learned in a year of macro-economics. I recommend to ANYONE, regardless of background in economics or even aptitude at math/numbers. It is written so that anyone can read and enjoy it, and it really makes you look at commerce differently from that moment on. Plus it answers so many questions that so many of us already had (e.g., Why are there braille labels on drive-up ATMs), etc. Get this book!

Not so dismal after all

Professor Frank provides a masterful lesson in practical economics that is both accessible to the layman and informative to the professional (like myself). I was captivated by the insightful questions, and intrigued by the suggested answers. But mostly, I was encouraged to keep using a few simple economic tools (e.g., benefit-cost analysis, opportunity costs) in trying to explain a range of real world phenomena. Bravo!

informative and entertaining

Adopting an interesting format (questions based on daily life observations and pithy answers), the book exposes the reader to some fundamental economics principles, while providing a whole lot of fun. Most of these question-answers are very informative and entertaining. Certainly great conversation material for any group. The title is a little grandiose in a sense, though. The book doesn't revolve around any particular theme, but the topics have been logically grouped - one can read sections in order of their interest level. Overall, a very interesting book - easy-to-read, informative, and fun. A must read.