How Economics Can Save the World
Simple Ideas to Solve Our Biggest Problems
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
How Economics Can Save the World
Buy for $18.88
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Nikolas Salmon
-
By:
-
Erik Angner
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
Economics has the power to make the world a better, happier and safer place: this book shows you how.
Our world is in a mess. The challenges of climate change, inequality, hunger and a global pandemic mean our way of life seems more imperilled and society more divided than ever; but economics can help!
From parenting to organ donation, housing to anti-social behaviour, economics provides the tools we need to fix the biggest issues of today. Far from being a means to predict the stock market or enrich the elite, economics provides a lens through which we can better understand how things work, design clever solutions and create the conditions in which we can all flourish.
With a healthy dose of optimism, and packed with stories of economics in everyday situations, Erik Angner demonstrates the methods he and his fellow economists use to help improve our lives and the society in which we live. He shows us that economics can be a powerful force for good, awakening the possibility of a happier, more just and more sustainable world.
©2023 Erik Angner (P)2023 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 736
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 673
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 673
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Clear Thinking
- Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results
- By: Shane Parrish
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Shane Parrish
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 401
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 366
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 366
You might believe you’re thinking clearly in the moments that matter most. But in all likelihood, when the pressure is on, you won’t be thinking at all. And your subsequent actions will inevitably move you further from the results you ultimately seek—love, belonging, success, wealth, victory. According to Farnam Street founder Shane Parrish, we must get better at recognizing these opportunities for what they are, and deploying our cognitive ability in order to achieve the life we want.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
It Feels Like a Classic - Seven Habits Good
- By Tyler L on 11-02-23
By: Shane Parrish
-
The Coming Wave
- Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma
- By: Mustafa Suleyman, Michael Bhaskar - contributor
- Narrated by: Mustafa Suleyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 765
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 668
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 667
We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy. None of us are prepared.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Click bait
- By Buyer on 09-11-23
By: Mustafa Suleyman, and others
-
Mixed Signals
- How Incentives Really Work
- By: Uri Gneezy
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
An informative and entertaining account of how actions send signals that shape behaviors and how to design better incentives for better results in our life, our work, and our world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book
- By Amos S. on 03-05-24
By: Uri Gneezy
-
The Experience Machine
- How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality
- By: Andy Clark
- Narrated by: Andy Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
For as long as we’ve studied human cognition, we’ve believed that our senses give us direct access to the world. What we see is what’s really there—or so the thinking goes. But new discoveries in neuroscience and psychology have turned this assumption on its head. What if rather than perceiving reality passively, your mind actively predicts it?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
About halfway through, it became propaganda
- By Jesse Helton on 08-13-23
By: Andy Clark
-
All the Beauty in the World
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me
- By: Patrick Bringley
- Narrated by: Patrick Bringley
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 382
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 315
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 315
Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have unrestricted access to every nook and cranny. They’re the guards who roam unobtrusively in dark blue suits, keeping a watchful eye on the two million square foot treasure house. Caught up in his glamourous fledgling career at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley never thought that he’d be one of them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gallery 771
- By Jonathan Hurst on 06-10-23
By: Patrick Bringley
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 736
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 673
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 673
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Clear Thinking
- Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results
- By: Shane Parrish
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Shane Parrish
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 401
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 366
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 366
You might believe you’re thinking clearly in the moments that matter most. But in all likelihood, when the pressure is on, you won’t be thinking at all. And your subsequent actions will inevitably move you further from the results you ultimately seek—love, belonging, success, wealth, victory. According to Farnam Street founder Shane Parrish, we must get better at recognizing these opportunities for what they are, and deploying our cognitive ability in order to achieve the life we want.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
It Feels Like a Classic - Seven Habits Good
- By Tyler L on 11-02-23
By: Shane Parrish
-
The Coming Wave
- Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma
- By: Mustafa Suleyman, Michael Bhaskar - contributor
- Narrated by: Mustafa Suleyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 765
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 668
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 667
We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy. None of us are prepared.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Click bait
- By Buyer on 09-11-23
By: Mustafa Suleyman, and others
-
Mixed Signals
- How Incentives Really Work
- By: Uri Gneezy
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
An informative and entertaining account of how actions send signals that shape behaviors and how to design better incentives for better results in our life, our work, and our world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book
- By Amos S. on 03-05-24
By: Uri Gneezy
-
The Experience Machine
- How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality
- By: Andy Clark
- Narrated by: Andy Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
For as long as we’ve studied human cognition, we’ve believed that our senses give us direct access to the world. What we see is what’s really there—or so the thinking goes. But new discoveries in neuroscience and psychology have turned this assumption on its head. What if rather than perceiving reality passively, your mind actively predicts it?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
About halfway through, it became propaganda
- By Jesse Helton on 08-13-23
By: Andy Clark
-
All the Beauty in the World
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me
- By: Patrick Bringley
- Narrated by: Patrick Bringley
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 382
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 315
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 315
Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have unrestricted access to every nook and cranny. They’re the guards who roam unobtrusively in dark blue suits, keeping a watchful eye on the two million square foot treasure house. Caught up in his glamourous fledgling career at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley never thought that he’d be one of them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gallery 771
- By Jonathan Hurst on 06-10-23
By: Patrick Bringley
-
Chip War
- The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,248
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,911
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,909
You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great history, but could poor narration
- By Lily Wong on 10-26-22
By: Chris Miller
-
Misbehaving
- The Making of Behavioral Economics
- By: Richard H. Thaler
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,443
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,531
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,488
Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans - predictable, error-prone individuals. Misbehaving is his arresting, frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth - and change the way we think about economics, ourselves, and our world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great book if it's your first about Behav. Econ
- By Jay Friedman on 09-30-15
-
The Big Myth
- How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market
- By: Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway
- Narrated by: Liza Seneca
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
In the early 20th century, business elites, trade associations, wealthy powerbrokers, and media allies set out to build a new American orthodoxy: down with 'big government' and up with unfettered markets. With startling archival evidence, Oreskes and Conway document campaigns to rewrite textbooks, combat unions, and defend child labor.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Refuting the Chicago School
- By Todd W. Laveen on 06-01-23
By: Naomi Oreskes, and others
-
Freedom's Dominion
- A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power
- By: Jefferson Cowie
- Narrated by: André Chapoy
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
American freedom is typically associated with the fight of the oppressed for a better world. But for centuries, whenever the federal government intervened on behalf of nonwhite people, many white Americans fought back in the name of freedom—their freedom to dominate others. In Freedom’s Dominion, historian Jefferson Cowie traces this complex saga by focusing on a quintessentially American place: Barbour County, Alabama, the ancestral home of political firebrand George Wallace.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very easily read and I learned a lot
- By Kev All on 02-05-23
By: Jefferson Cowie
-
Hidden Games
- The Surprising Power of Game Theory to Explain Irrational Human Behavior
- By: Erez Yoeli, Moshe Hoffman
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 45
We like to think of ourselves as rational. This idea is the foundation for classical economic analysis of human behavior, including the awesome achievements of game theory. But as behavioral economics shows, most behavior doesn’t seem rational at all - which, unfortunately, casts doubt on game theory’s real-world credibility. In Hidden Games, Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli find a surprising middle ground between the hyperrationality of classical economics and the hyper-irrationality of behavioral economics.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Authors’ bias is very clear
- By Xi Chen on 05-03-22
By: Erez Yoeli, and others
-
Thinking in Bets
- Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts
- By: Annie Duke
- Narrated by: Annie Duke
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,153
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,193
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,153
In Super Bowl XLIX, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made one of the most controversial calls in football history: With 26 seconds remaining, and trailing by four at the Patriots' one-yard line, he called for a pass instead of a handing off to his star running back. The pass was intercepted, and the Seahawks lost. Critics called it the dumbest play in history. But was the call really that bad? Or did Carroll actually make a great move that was ruined by bad luck? Even the best decision doesn't yield the best outcome every time.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Wasn't For Me
- By ❤️One.Crazy&Cool.Family❤️ on 09-04-18
By: Annie Duke
-
Slouching Towards Utopia
- An Economic History of the Twentieth Century
- By: J. Bradford DeLong
- Narrated by: Allan Aquino
- Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 213
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 179
Before 1870, humanity lived in dire poverty, with a slow crawl of invention offset by a growing population. Then came a great shift: invention sprinted forward, doubling our technological capabilities each generation and utterly transforming the economy again and again. Our ancestors would have presumed we would have used such powers to build utopia. But it was not so. When 1870-2010 ended, the world instead saw global warming; economic depression, uncertainty, and inequality; and broad rejection of the status quo.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A clear but sometimes one-sided economic history
- By Anon on 11-22-22
-
Power and Progress
- Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity
- By: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 73
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 63
Throughout history, technological change — whether it takes the form of agricultural improvements in the Middle Ages, the Industrial Revolution, or today’s artificial intelligence — has been viewed as a main driver of prosperity, working in the public interest. The reality, though, is that technology is shaped by what powerful people want and believe, generating riches, social respect, cultural prominence, and further political voice for those already powerful. For most of the rest of us, there is the illusion of progress.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A different take on Technology’s impact
- By Ricardo Ernst on 07-23-23
By: Daron Acemoglu, and others
-
What's Our Problem?
- A Self-Help Book for Societies
- By: Tim Urban
- Narrated by: Tim Urban
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 461
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 402
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 399
From the creator of the wildly popular blog Wait but Why, a fun and fascinating deep dive into what the hell is going on in our strange, unprecedented modern times.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good for a while but then goes hard off the rails
- By g27c on 04-20-23
By: Tim Urban
-
The Feminine Mystique
- By: Betty Friedan
- Narrated by: Parker Posey
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,058
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 917
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 909
The book that changed the consciousness of a country - and the world. Landmark, groundbreaking, classic - these adjectives barely describe the earthshaking and long-lasting effects of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. This is the book that defined "the problem that has no name", that launched the Second Wave of the feminist movement, and has been awakening women and men with its insights into social relations, which still remain fresh, ever since.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A landmark book of its time and relevant now
- By Anthony on 01-23-15
By: Betty Friedan
-
How Minds Change
- The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion
- By: David McRaney
- Narrated by: David McRaney
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 500
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 446
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 443
What made a prominent conspiracy-theorist YouTuber finally see that 9/11 was not a hoax? How do voter opinions shift from neutral to resolute? Can widespread social change only take place when a generation dies out? From one of our greatest thinkers on reasoning, HOW MINDS CHANGE is a book about the science, and the experience, of transformation.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating, nuanced, well-written, but…
- By Jason J. Gay on 08-13-22
By: David McRaney
-
Thinking Like an Economist: A Guide to Rational Decision Making
- By: Randall Bartlett, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Randall Bartlett
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,947
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,706
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,683
Economic forces are everywhere around you. But that doesn't mean you need to passively accept whatever outcome those forces might press upon you. Instead, with these 12 fast-moving and crystal clear lectures, you can learn how to use a small handful of basic nuts-and-bolts principles to turn those same forces to your own advantage.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great for beginners, nothing you for an economist
- By V. Taras on 07-08-15
By: Randall Bartlett, and others
Related to this topic
-
Equal Is Unfair
- America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality
- By: Don Watkins, Yaron Brook
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 620
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 566
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 567
We've all heard that the American Dream is vanishing, and that the cause is rising income inequality. The rich are getting richer by rigging the system in their favor, leaving the rest of us to struggle just to keep our heads above water. To save the American Dream, we're told that we need to fight inequality through tax hikes, wealth redistribution schemes, and a far higher minimum wage.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
While I agree with most of this book,...
- By Wayne on 12-30-16
By: Don Watkins, and others
-
Success and Luck
- Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy
- By: Robert H. Frank
- Narrated by: Robert H. Frank
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 181
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 182
How important is luck in economic success? No question more reliably divides conservatives from liberals. As conservatives correctly observe, people who amass great fortunes are almost always talented and hardworking. But liberals are also correct to note that countless others have those same qualities yet never earn much. In recent years, social scientists have discovered that chance plays a much larger role in important life outcomes than most people imagine.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not what is advertised
- By Andre on 04-18-17
By: Robert H. Frank
-
Average is Over
- Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation
- By: Tyler Cowen
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 380
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 309
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 306
The widening gap between rich and poor means dealing with one big, uncomfortable truth: If you're not at the top, you're at the bottom. The global labor market is changing radically thanks to growth at the high end and the low. About three quarters of the jobs created in the United States since the great recession pay only a bit more than minimum wage. Still, the United States has more millionaires and billionaires than any country ever, and we continue to mint them.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing analysis of future
- By JKBart on 12-10-13
By: Tyler Cowen
-
The Myth of the Rational Voter
- Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
- By: Bryan Caplan
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 299
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 240
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 238
The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan's sobering assessment in this provocative and eye-opening book.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Refreshing
- By Lyle Wincentsen on 05-12-11
By: Bryan Caplan
-
How Much is Enough?
- Money and the Good Life
- By: Edward Skidelsky
- Narrated by: Clay Teunis
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 38
What constitutes the good life? What is the true value of money? Why do we work such long hours merely to acquire greater wealth? These are some of the questions that many asked themselves when the financial system crashed in 2008. This book tackles such questions head-on.The authors begin with the great economist John Maynard Keynes. In 1930 Keynes predicted that, within a century, per capita income would steadily rise, people’s basic needs would be met, and no one would have to work more than fifteen hours a week.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not what I expected at all!
- By Chi on 05-22-23
By: Edward Skidelsky
-
The Undercover Economist
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 542
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 326
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 324
Author of the extremely popular "Dear Economist" column in Financial Times, Tim Harford reveals the economics behind everyday phenomena in this highly entertaining and informative book. Can a book about economics be fun to read? It can when Harford takes the reins, using his trademark wit to explain why it costs an arm and a leg to buy a cappuccino and why it's nearly impossible to purchase a decent used car.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Everyone needs to know this.
- By Paul Norwood on 04-24-06
By: Tim Harford
-
Equal Is Unfair
- America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality
- By: Don Watkins, Yaron Brook
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 620
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 566
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 567
We've all heard that the American Dream is vanishing, and that the cause is rising income inequality. The rich are getting richer by rigging the system in their favor, leaving the rest of us to struggle just to keep our heads above water. To save the American Dream, we're told that we need to fight inequality through tax hikes, wealth redistribution schemes, and a far higher minimum wage.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
While I agree with most of this book,...
- By Wayne on 12-30-16
By: Don Watkins, and others
-
Success and Luck
- Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy
- By: Robert H. Frank
- Narrated by: Robert H. Frank
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 181
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 182
How important is luck in economic success? No question more reliably divides conservatives from liberals. As conservatives correctly observe, people who amass great fortunes are almost always talented and hardworking. But liberals are also correct to note that countless others have those same qualities yet never earn much. In recent years, social scientists have discovered that chance plays a much larger role in important life outcomes than most people imagine.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not what is advertised
- By Andre on 04-18-17
By: Robert H. Frank
-
Average is Over
- Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation
- By: Tyler Cowen
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 380
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 309
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 306
The widening gap between rich and poor means dealing with one big, uncomfortable truth: If you're not at the top, you're at the bottom. The global labor market is changing radically thanks to growth at the high end and the low. About three quarters of the jobs created in the United States since the great recession pay only a bit more than minimum wage. Still, the United States has more millionaires and billionaires than any country ever, and we continue to mint them.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing analysis of future
- By JKBart on 12-10-13
By: Tyler Cowen
-
The Myth of the Rational Voter
- Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
- By: Bryan Caplan
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 299
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 240
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 238
The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan's sobering assessment in this provocative and eye-opening book.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Refreshing
- By Lyle Wincentsen on 05-12-11
By: Bryan Caplan
-
How Much is Enough?
- Money and the Good Life
- By: Edward Skidelsky
- Narrated by: Clay Teunis
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 38
What constitutes the good life? What is the true value of money? Why do we work such long hours merely to acquire greater wealth? These are some of the questions that many asked themselves when the financial system crashed in 2008. This book tackles such questions head-on.The authors begin with the great economist John Maynard Keynes. In 1930 Keynes predicted that, within a century, per capita income would steadily rise, people’s basic needs would be met, and no one would have to work more than fifteen hours a week.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not what I expected at all!
- By Chi on 05-22-23
By: Edward Skidelsky
-
The Undercover Economist
- By: Tim Harford
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 542
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 326
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 324
Author of the extremely popular "Dear Economist" column in Financial Times, Tim Harford reveals the economics behind everyday phenomena in this highly entertaining and informative book. Can a book about economics be fun to read? It can when Harford takes the reins, using his trademark wit to explain why it costs an arm and a leg to buy a cappuccino and why it's nearly impossible to purchase a decent used car.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Everyone needs to know this.
- By Paul Norwood on 04-24-06
By: Tim Harford
-
The Great Escape
- Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality
- By: Angus Deaton
- Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 251
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 206
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 206
The world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Angus Deaton - one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty - tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
not worth listening
- By Kyung on 04-26-20
By: Angus Deaton
-
Mindware
- Tools for Smart Thinking
- By: Richard E. Nisbett
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 509
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 434
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 427
Many scientific and philosophical ideas are so powerful that they can be applied to our lives at home, work, and school to help us think smarter and more effectively about our behavior and the world around us. Surprisingly, many of these ideas remain unknown to most of us. In Mindware, the world-renowned psychologist Richard Nisbett presents these ideas in clear and accessible detail, offering a tool kit for better thinking and wiser decisions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sound scientific advice on how to live your life
- By Neuron on 08-26-15
-
Focus
- Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence
- By: Heidi Grant Halvorson Ph.D., E. Tory Higgins PhD
- Narrated by: Karen Saltus
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 60
We all want to experience pleasure and avoid pain. But there are really two kinds of pleasure and pain that motivate everything we do. If you are promotion-focused, you want to advance and avoid missed opportunities. If you are prevention-focused, you want to minimize losses and keep things working. And as Tory Higgins has found in his groundbreaking research, if you understand how people focus, you have the power to motivate yourself and everyone around you.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Pain / Pleasure
- By Serena K. on 02-13-17
By: Heidi Grant Halvorson Ph.D., and others
-
The Complacent Class
- The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream
- By: Tyler Cowen
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 299
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 254
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 253
Since Alexis de Tocqueville, restlessness has been accepted as a signature American trait. Our willingness to move, take risks, and adapt to change have produced a dynamic economy and a tradition of innovation from Ben Franklin to Steve Jobs. The problem, according to legendary blogger, economist, and best-selling author Tyler Cowen, is that Americans today have broken from this tradition - we're working harder than ever to avoid change.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
MUST READ
- By RJW on 05-06-17
By: Tyler Cowen
-
The Case Against Education
- Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money
- By: Bryan Caplan
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 708
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 608
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 605
Despite being immensely popular - and immensely lucrative - education is grossly overrated. In this explosive book, Bryan Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity - in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Finally, someone says what needs to be said about education
- By Brandon B. on 05-17-18
By: Bryan Caplan
-
Why Not Socialism?
- By: G. A. Cohen
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 1 hr and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 69
Is socialism desirable? Is it even possible? In this concise book, one of the world's leading political philosophers presents with clarity and wit a compelling moral case for socialism and argues that the obstacles in its way are exaggerated. There are times, G. A. Cohen notes, when we all behave like socialists.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not compelling, but OK
- By Angel D. on 01-17-12
By: G. A. Cohen
-
Moral Tribes
- Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them
- By: Joshua Greene
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 636
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 531
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 528
A pathbreaking neuroscientist reveals how our social instincts turn Me into Us, but turn Us against Them - and what we can do about it. The great dilemma of our shrinking world is simple: never before have those we disagree with been so present in our lives. The more globalization dissolves national borders, the more clearly we see that human beings are deeply divided on moral lines - about everything from tax codes to sexual practices to energy consumption - and that, when we really disagree, our emotions turn positively tribal.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good Science, Bad Philosophy
- By Jacob on 10-27-16
By: Joshua Greene
-
Willful Blindness
- Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril
- By: Margaret Heffernan
- Narrated by: Margaret Heffernan
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 346
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 274
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 270
Margaret Heffernan argues that the biggest threats and dangers we face are the ones we don't see - not because they're secret or invisible, but because we're willfully blind. A distinguished businesswoman and writer, she examines the phenomenon and traces its imprint in our private and working lives, and within governments and organizations, and asks: What makes us prefer ignorance? What are we so afraid of? Why do some people see more than others? And how can we change?
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
How Not to Be the Blind Leading the Blind
- By Cynthia on 06-29-13
-
The Behavior Gap
- Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money
- By: Carl Richards
- Narrated by: Carl Richards
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 207
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 176
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 174
Why do we lose money? It's easy to blame the economy or the financial markets - but the real trouble lies in the decisions we make. As a financial planner, Carl Richards grew frustrated watching people he cared about make the same mistakes over and over. They were letting emotion get in the way of smart financial decisions. He named this phenomenon - the distance between what we should do and what we actually do - "the behavior gap". He found that once people understood it, they started doing much better.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Average across the board
- By michael on 01-23-18
By: Carl Richards
-
A Little History of the World
- By: E. H. Gombrich
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,046
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,395
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,381
E. H. Gombrich's world history, an international best seller now available in English for the first time, is a text dominated not by dates and facts but by the sweep of experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements, and an acute witness to its frailties.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
an enlightening book; very well read
- By A.B.Oxford on 06-03-06
By: E. H. Gombrich
-
The Great Mental Models
- General Thinking Concepts
- By: Shane Parrish
- Narrated by: Shane Parrish
- Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,636
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,359
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,340
The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts is the first book in The Great Mental Models series designed to upgrade your thinking with the best, most useful and powerful tools so you always have the right one on hand. This volume details nine of the most versatile all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making, your productivity, and how clearly you see the world.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A dissapointing debut
- By Peter on 04-14-19
By: Shane Parrish
-
The Nordic Theory of Everything
- In Search of a Better Life
- By: Anu Partanen
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,013
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 873
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 867
Moving to America in 2008, Finnish journalist Anu Partanen quickly went from confident, successful professional to wary, self-doubting mess. She found that navigating the basics of everyday life - from buying a cell phone and filing taxes to education and childcare - was much more complicated and stressful than anything she encountered in her homeland. At first she attributed her crippling anxiety to the difficulty of adapting to a freewheeling new culture. But as she got to know Americans better, she discovered they shared her deep apprehension.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A non-radical perspective on two societies
- By kwdayboise (Kim Day) on 06-20-17
By: Anu Partanen