Economics 2.0: What the Best Minds in Economics Can Teach You About Business and Life

Economists can help shape monetary policy, global policy and even how much you pay for a new pair of shoes. For example, did you know globalization changed the market for illegal drugs? How do fitness studios and providers of Internet access earn most of their money?--From the laziness and irrationality of their customers.

The book features recent work from top thinkers in the economic field from around the world, such as Philippe Aghion, Paul Krugman, George Akerlof, Gary Becker, and George Loewenstein. The book includes chapters on:

• Financial Markets: Are they completely efficient or totally nuts (rational vs. emotional)

• The Art of Selling: How marketers use consumer decision making data to sell us products we don't need

• The Subprime Crisis: Why it happened and how to deal with it

Economics 2.0 makes an impressive case for the argument that economics is not a dry science and that economics principles impact much of our day to day life. Completely without formulas and theoretical ballast, the authors present current findings of prominent economists and expand the economic knowledge of their readers. The authors manage to make complex relationships clear thanks to their clear writing style.

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Review

"A wide-ranging, informed and thoroughly enjoyable tour of the frontiers of economics. Anyone who wants to find out what economists actually do should grab a copy at once." -- Tim Harford, Financial Times columnist and author of The Logic of Life and The Undercover Economist

"Economics 2.0 is a very readable and timely collection by two of Europe's best economic journalists, covering topics that range from the nature of happiness to the origins of the current financial crisis.В  Each chapter seamlessly blends field research in the Freakonomics tradition with laboratory research, and entertains while it enlightens." -- Daniel Friedman, Professor of Economics, US Santa Cruz and author of Moral and Markets

"The nature of economic research has changed drastically over the last years,В revoking the mantra of rationality, exploring creative new data sources, and venturig into topics far from the classical bundle of themes. This book provides a very entertaining and insightful overview of where modern economic stands today." --Ulrike Malmendier, Associate Professor of Economics, University of California, BerkeleyВ 

"The book is very accessible, yet precise and balanced in its account of what economics can teach us about the real world." -- Dirk Krueger, Ph.D., Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania

About the Author

Norbert Häring is Handelsblatt correspondent in Frankfurt, Germany. He has worked as a business cycle analyst with Commerzbank and as a correspondent for Boersen Zeitung and Financial Times Deutschland. Olaf Storbeck is Economics editor with Handelsblatt and is responsible for the weekly economics section.