Hidden Order

by Friedman, David D.

• ISBN13: 9780887308857
• ISBN10: 0887308856
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-29
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

What do topics as diverse as recycling, dating, rush-hour commuting, shopping, outwitting muggers, and parenting have to do with economics? In this engaging guide, David Friedman explains the practical economic applications behind the things people do every day. "A surprisingly lucid and useful book, and about as appealing as economics gets".--"Kirkus Reviews". 55 line art illustrations.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Economics for Pleasure and Profit	p. 1
Rush-Hour Blues and Rational Babies	p. 3
Actions Speak Louder Than Words	p. 14
Price=Value=Cost: Solving a Simple Economy	p. 23
Thinking on Paper: The Geometry of Choice	p. 25
What Would You Give to Get Off a Desert Island?	p. 41
Bricks Without Clay: Production in a One-Input World	p. 54
Ptolemaic Trade Theory	p. 65
Putting It Together: Price Theory in a Simple Economy	p. 78
The Big Picture	p. 100
In Search of the Real World	p. 109
Bosses, Workers, and Other Complications	p. 111
Monopoly for Fun and Profit	p. 130
Hard Problems: Game Theory, Strategic Behavior, and Oligopoly	p. 147
Time ...	p. 167
... And Chance	p. 180
Who Gets How Much Why?	p. 195
Standing in for Moral Philosophy: The Economist as Judge	p. 215
Summing People Up	p. 217
What is Efficient?	p. 227
How to Gum Up the Works	p. 245
Why We Are Not All Happy, Wealthy, Wise, and Married	p. 260
Applications: Conventional and Un	p. 279
Law and Sausage: The Political Marketplace	p. 281
Rational Criminals and Intentional Accidents	p. 298
The Economics of Love and Marriage	p. 317
Final Words	p. 333
Index	p. 335
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.