The Undercover Economist

Book Description

23 Reviews

• 4 people find this helpful

  

  Very so-so

  After reading the Freakonomics, I was having some expectations on these kind of books/topics. However, The Undercover Economist was definitely disappointing. Some of the discussions and topics were food for thought. However, some examples the author cited were not valid. Similarly, some arguments he ... (continue)

  After reading the Freakonomics, I was having some expectations on these kind of books/topics. However, The Undercover Economist was definitely disappointing. Some of the discussions and topics were food for thought. However, some examples the author cited were not valid. Similarly, some arguments he raised were *oversimplified* which sounds as naive/invalid/arrogant as the points he wished to attack that I couldn't stop shaking my head. The author also failed to conclude his arguments logically for each chapter. After all, I feel like I was listening to a radio's entertainment programme other than some insights from an economist.

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  Richard Yeung said on Aug 24, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 3 people find this helpful

  

  For those of you who have studied economics in high school and/or university, I wonder whether demand and supply, free lunch, law of diminishing marginal utility etc. still give you nightmares. To me, they still do.

  Tim Harford is an economist and in "The Undercover Economist", he tried to us ... (continue)

  For those of you who have studied economics in high school and/or university, I wonder whether demand and supply, free lunch, law of diminishing marginal utility etc. still give you nightmares. To me, they still do.

  Tim Harford is an economist and in "The Undercover Economist", he tried to use economic theories to explain daily phenomenons. In the chapter "Who Pays For Your Coffee?", he explained why Starbucks can charge exorbitant price for a cup of coffee that costs a fraction to produce: the power of scarcity (of other coffee retailers in a busy location). In another chapter, he pointed out that the US medical insurance system does not work well because lack of perfect information makes the market less efficient.

  These are all very basic economic theories. If you have never studied economics before, this is a perfect introductory text for you which is informative, easy to read and fun. For those of us who have some knowledge, it may serve as a revision course.

  However, because the phenomenons picked by Tim Harford to investigate (as an undercover economist) are really not that spectacular, and his explanations also do not shed new light, you may find the whole reading experience a little bit disappointing. You may not get much out of it.

  The chapter on "Why Poor Countries Are Poor" is the only one that is an eye-opener. I never knew that Cameroon is so poor and its economy is in such dire straits. The author made a forceful argument on why democracy may help pull a country out of poverty, not by way of election, but because of "social capital", "trust", "rule of law" or "institutions" which make those in power care about developing business.

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  Tracy W said on Dec 24, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 2 people find this helpful

  

  Noooo!

  Reading this book after The Black Swan by NNT was a mistake. The author obediently illustrated the reason why NNT objects to the abuse of the economics discipline - more often than not, the "armchair detective" approach to identifying causation in real life situations creates misunderstanding and il ... (continue)

  Reading this book after The Black Swan by NNT was a mistake. The author obediently illustrated the reason why NNT objects to the abuse of the economics discipline - more often than not, the "armchair detective" approach to identifying causation in real life situations creates misunderstanding and illusions.

  The author's "undercover economist" antic is also surprisingly annoying. Yeah economists are so handsome that people would recognize them on the street and so begin to act irrationally. Oh, that's not the case? Then what's the point of going "undercover," except to sound arrogant and incredibly juvenile?

  If you want a brief introduction to orthodox economics, read the Wikipedia page. If you want a fun ride through some economists' work, read Freakonomics. Not this one.

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  s tsui said on May 11, 2008 | 1 feedback

• 

  Brilliant!

  harford writes about major world problems with irony applying different economics theories in a brilliant way.
  If you think economics is just numbers and percentages... Think again!
  Eye-opening

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  Matteo said on Jun 21, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  Nice hands on on Ricardo's theories

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  Matteo Brusa said on Jun 13, 2011 | Add your feedback

• *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

  

  This book starts brilliantly, and draws your attention to continue reading, with lot of daily examples, such as the "price targetting policies" of organic food, fair trade coffee, packaging (design does not cost much, but poor design can help to deter customers who are willing to pay more), second h ... (continue)

  This book starts brilliantly, and draws your attention to continue reading, with lot of daily examples, such as the "price targetting policies" of organic food, fair trade coffee, packaging (design does not cost much, but poor design can help to deter customers who are willing to pay more), second hand car trade (insider info to distinguish peaches from lemons with subtle accreditation such as beautiful showroom for long term business?)

  The chapter on globalization provides food for thought. It introduces the concept of comparative advanatage in global trade. Both parties are better off with nobody worse off. Ban/tariffs on import is in fact a ban/tariffs over its export - who on world wants others currencies if they can't buy anything?

  However, my interest is fading fast when the examples become more complicated in the next few chapters. If the write could be more concise I would give a better rating.

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  Waleswong said on Sep 7, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

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Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 288 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0349119856
• ISBN-13: 9780349119854
• Publisher: Abacus
• Pub date: May 03, 2007
• Dimensions: 1290 mm x 839 mm x 129 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Hardcover, Audio CD and eBook
• In other languages: other languages 繁體書, 简体书, Libros en Español, 한국 책, Libri Italiani

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• Malaysian Bookworms (64)
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