Overview
Main description
From economics Nobel Laureate Gary Becker and historian Guity Nashat Becker comes this collection of the economist's popular BusinessWeek columns. These 138 essays have fueled numerous debates, touching on hot-button issues from crime to organization of sports. The Beckers' surprising--and uncompromising--positions on drugs ("legalize them"), immigration ("auction off immigration slots"), welfare ("curtail it sharply"), and other topics provide a provocative commentary on our times.
Table of contents
From the Ivory Tower of Columnist.Regulation and Privatization.Labor Markets and Immigration.Human Capital and Schools.Families.Discrimination.Crime and Addictions.Antitrust and Cartels.Special Interest and Politics.Government Taxes.Capitalism and Other Economic Systems.International Trade and International Agreements.Stock Market and Recessions.Economists.
Author comments
Gary S. Becker won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1992 for his theory of "economic reasoning." Professor of Economics and Sociology at the University of Chicago, Becker writes a monthly column for Business Week, is a frequent editorialist for The Wall Street Journal, and is a regular guest on such television programs as The McNeil-Lehrer Report and Adam SmithÕs Money World. Guity Nashat Becker is Associate Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Fellow of the Hoover Institution, and a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism. She has written several books and appeared on many TV and radio programs. The Beckers live in Chicago.
Back cover copy
". . .the 1992 Nobel laureate demonstrates his well-known talent for extending ever further the frontiers of economics. . .in these pieces, the real world is very much at hand."--Business Week. "Becker goes tot he root of the problem. . .brims with fresh insights."--The Wall Street Journal. 1992 Nobel Prize winner Gary s. Becker is one of the few modern economists to apply economic theory to human behavior. His provocative world-view states that our daily actions and choices are influenced more than we know by market forces and economic incentives. In The Economics of Life, Gary Becker and historian Guity Nashat Becker have collected the best of the economist's popular work from his monthly Business Week column along with introductions that bring each topic into present-day focus. Extending well beyond the traditional range of economics, these 138 essays provocatively address modern issues including: the changing role of women in modern economics, crime, immigration, drugs, discrimination against minorities, and many other topics. From legalizing drugs to auctioning off immigration rights, the Beckers do not shy away from advocating controversial changes in public policy and personal behavior. They will set you thinking and perhaps change your mind about the connections between economics and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
