Opis: Phishing for Phools - Robert Shiller, George Akerlof

Ever since Adam Smith, the central teaching of economics has been that free markets provide us with material well-being, as if by an invisible hand. In Phishing for Phools, Nobel Prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller deliver a fundamental challenge to this insight, arguing that markets harm as well as help us. As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools." Phishing for Phools therefore strikes a radically new direction in economics, based on the intuitive idea that markets both give and take away. Akerlof and Shiller bring this idea to life through dozens of stories that show how phishing affects everyone, in almost every walk of life. We spend our money up to the limit, and then worry about how to pay the next month's bills. The financial system soars, then crashes. We are attracted, more than we know, by advertising. Our political system is distorted by money. We pay too much for gym memberships, cars, houses, and credit cards. Drug companies ingeniously market pharmaceuticals that do us little good, and sometimes are downright dangerous. Phishing for Phools explores the central role of manipulation and deception in fascinating detail in each of these areas and many more. It thereby explains a paradox: why, at a time when we are better off than ever before in history, all too many of us are leading lives of quiet desperation. At the same time, the book tells stories of individuals who have stood against economic trickery--and how it can be reduced through greater knowledge, reform, and regulation. George A. Akerlof, Co-Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics Robert J. Shiller, Co-Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics Longlisted for the FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2015 "[Akerlof and Shiller] want to go far beyond behavioral economics, at least in its current form. They offer a much more general, and quite damning, account of why free markets and competition cause serious problems... They are intellectual renegades... Akerlof and Shiller make a convincing argument that phishing occurs because of the operation of the invisible hand, not in spite of it."--Cass Sunstein, New York Review of Books "As you would expect, it's a very clearly written book with tons of examples. And it makes a simple and powerful point about the fragility of the normative, welfare economics conclusions economists tend to draw."--Diane Coyle, The Enlightened Economist "Akerlof and Shiller present convincing evidence of how tobacco, pharmaceutical, and liquor companies and politicians weasel a chapter of their own into our life stories, abusing the mutual storytelling--with all its signs and wonders--that is elemental to our humanity."--Peter Lewis, Barnes & Noble Review "With accessible language and everyday examples, Shiller and Akerlof are taking on the powerful belief that aside from a few blemishes (like widening income inequality) only fools advocate interfering with the free market."--Chris Farrell, Minneapolis Star Tribune "The book's central message is certainly thought-provoking."--The Economist "Phishing for Phools forswears technical language, making this book accessible not only to economists but to consumers and policymakers. It should make everyone rethink the unfettered free-market model."--Brenda Jubin, Investing.com "It's a very clearly written book with tons of examples. And it makes a simple and powerful point about the fragility of the normative, welfare economics conclusions economists tend to draw."--Enlightened Economist "Its critique of conventional economics is more powerful and comprehensive--and more paternalistic--than that of Animal Spirits."--Carlos Lozada, Washington Post "[Akerlof's and Shiller's] insight is a powerful one."--Economist.com's Buttonwood blog "No question, Phishing for Phools is a radical book. It may also be a radically important one."--Fortune "Akerlof and Shiller show that unregulated free markets systematically make people worse off by providing the unscrupulous with opportunities to take advantage of the unwary."--Adam Bouyamourn, The National "[Phishing for Phools] serves the important purpose of holding up a mirror to economics, a subject that prides itself on (supposedly) being the most sophisticated of all the social sciences. Economics may look sophisticated on paper, but it is often completely out of touch when it comes to reality."--Victoria Bateman, Times Higher Education "The book offers powerful support for a skeptical view of free markets, but it's also a helpful guide for consumers to avoid getting ripped off in the course of making important purchases."--Chris Matthews, Fortune "An interesting and entertaining new book by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller looks at the role of trickery in market economies. Phishing for Phools explains that sellers are often out to deceive you, and shows that this isn't an occasional glitch in the market system so much as an intrinsic and pervasive trait... Phishing for Phools aims to help readers understand their psychological weaknesses, so that the phishermen can be phended off more ephectively."--Clive Crook, Bloomberg View "I highly recommend this, even for those who might disagree with the authors' outlook. Their case studies are illuminating, and their insights on the way markets work are fascinating. When you consider the sorry state of the personal finances of the median working age family in the United States today, it's hard to disagree with their central thesis that our current system isn't working properly."--John Reeves, Motley FoolPREFACE vii INTRODUCTION Expect to Be Manipulated: Phishing Equilibrium 1 PART ONE Unpaid Bills and Financial Crash CHAPTER ONE Temptation Strews Our Path 15 CHAPTER TWO Reputation Mining and Financial Crisis 23 PART TWO Phishing in Many Contexts CHAPTER THREE Advertisers Discover How to Zoom In on Our Weak Spots 45 CHAPTER FOUR Rip-offs Regarding Cars, Houses, and Credit Cards 60 CHAPTER FIVE Phishing in Politics 72 CHAPTER SIX Phood, Pharma, and Phishing 84 CHAPTER SEVEN Innovation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 96 CHAPTER EIGHT Tobacco and Alcohol 103 CHAPTER NINE Bankruptcy for Profit 117 CHAPTER TEN Michael Milken Phishes with Junk Bonds as Bait 124 CHAPTER ELEVEN The Resistance and Its Heroes 136 PART THREE Conclusion and Afterword CONCLUSION: EXAMPLES AND GENERAL LESSONS New Story in America and Its Consequences 149 AFTERWORD The Significance of Phishing Equilibrium 163 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 175 NOTES 181 BIBLIOGRAPHY 233 INDEX 257

Szczegóły: Phishing for Phools - Robert Shiller, George Akerlof

Tytuł: Phishing for Phools
Autor: Robert Shiller, George Akerlof
Producent: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691168319
Rok produkcji: 2015
Ilość stron: 288
Oprawa: Twarda
Waga: 0.54 kg

Recenzje: Phishing for Phools - Robert Shiller, George Akerlof