The Economic Naturalist

Why do the keypads on drive-up cash machines have Braille dots? Why are round-trip fares from Orlando to Kansas City higher than those from Kansas City to Orlando? For decades, Robert Frank has been asking his economics students to pose and answer questions like these as a way of learning how economic principles operate in the real world--which they do everywhere, all the time. Once you learn to think like an economist, all kinds of puzzling observations start to make sense. Drive-up ATM keypads have Braille dots because it's cheaper to make the same machine for both drive-up and walk-up locations. Travelers from Kansas City to Orlando pay less because they are usually price-sensitive tourists with many choices of destination, whereas travelers originating from Orlando typically choose Kansas City for specific family or business reasons. The Economic Naturalist employs basic economic principles to answer scores of intriguing questions from everyday life, and, along the way, introduces key ideas such as the cost benefit principle, the "no cash left on the table" principle, and the law of one price. There is no more delightful and painless way of learning these fundamental principles.

ISBN 046500217X   Pages 240 ISBN13 9780465002177 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher The Perseus Books Group   Weight (grammes) 463 Imprint Basic Books   Published in New York Format Hardback   Height (mm) 236 Publication date 01 May 2007   Width (mm) 156 Library of Congress 2007001519   Spine width (mm) 20 DEWEY 330   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

1		Rectangular milk cartons and cylindrical soda cans : the economics of product design		13
2		Free peanuts and expensive batteries : supply and demand in action		29
3		Why equally talented workers often earn different salaries and other mysteries of the world of work		51
4		Why some buyers pay more than others : the economics of discount pricing		71
5		Arms races and the tragedy of the commons		93
6		The myth of ownership		109
7		Decoding marketplace signals		133
8		The economic naturalist hits the road		149
9		Psychology meets economics		163
10		The informal market for personal relationships		183
11		Two originals		197

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