Dear Undercover Economist

September 15, 2009
The best-selling author of "The Undercover Economist" again delivers an informative yet riveting book, accomplished through the fluid use of economic principle to dissect everyday conundrums, as seen in these entries from Harford's "Dear Economist" column in the "Financial Times". He uses fictional Ann Landers-type questions that effortlessly lend themselves to his dry English humor, and both the questions and the answers he provides are quite interesting. Harford commonly employs sophisticated economic principles alongside everyday rules of thumb, and readers will be entertained by his instructive empirical evidence, e.g., "Men like thin, educated women who do not smoke" and "people with a lot of education and little money are miserable." Some interesting highlights are a "happiness equation" that proves that more money will make you happier and that Michigan is still worth two trillion dollars. Who knew? VERDICT Although targeted to a highly educated audience, the book is highly recommended to all Harford fans both in and out of academe.Tracy Mohaidheen, MLIS, West Bloomfield, MI

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2009
For more than half a decade, Financial Times columnist and author (The Logic of Life, 2008, and others) Harford has patiently answered readers questions about all aspects of life, from what to do with lottery winnings to the timing of marriage proposals, as host of a BBC-TV series called, Trust Me, Im an Economist. A selection of his pithy (five to six very short paragraphs) and funny responses are compiled hereand sure to amuse. Should a young adult follow his passion to become a musician and skip higher education? Whats the consequence of friendships from a huge lottery windfall? Are there principles to follow when contractors fail to complete the rehab of a house? In your opinion, what are the benefits of extended warranties, outing a fraudulent eBay seller, or reusing the same password? When the very understandable answers are couched in believe-it-or-not language like auction theory and Pareto-superior plan, its clear that this is an uncommon economist, indeed. Savor this in more than one sitting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)