Free Market MadnessFree Market Madness
Why Human Nature Is at Odds With Economics and Why It Matters
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Book, 2009
Current format, Book, 2009, , All copies in use.Book, 2009
Current format, Book, 2009, , All copies in use. Offered in 0 more formatsHumans just aren't entirely rational creatures.
We decide to roll over and hit the snooze button instead of going to the gym. We take out home loans we can't possibly afford. And did you know that people named Paul are more likely to move to St. Paul than other cities? All too often, our subconscious causes us to act against our own self-interest.
But our free-market economy is based on the assumption that we always do act in our own self-interest. In this provocative book, physician Peter Ubel uses his understanding of psychology and behavior to show that in some cases government must regulate markets for our own health and well-being. And by understanding and controlling the factors that go into our decisions, big and small, we can all begin to stop the damage we do to our bodies, our finances, and our economy as a whole.
Ubel's vivid stories bring his message home for anyone interested in improving the way our society works.
Ubel (medicine and psychology, Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine, U. of Michigan) argues that restricting certain kinds of freedom can help preserve health and well-being. He details the harms of capitalism, which gives consumers too many choices to make bad decisions, and argues for a more restrained market that will help protect people from their nature to overconsume. He discusses problems such as obesity, impulsive behavior, and behaviors like smoking; concepts of rationality, persuasion, and behavioral economics; how society might benefit from soft paternalism; and the problem of free market medical care. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
We decide to roll over and hit the snooze button instead of going to the gym. We take out home loans we can't possibly afford. And did you know that people named Paul are more likely to move to St. Paul than other cities? All too often, our subconscious causes us to act against our own self-interest.
But our free-market economy is based on the assumption that we always do act in our own self-interest. In this provocative book, physician Peter Ubel uses his understanding of psychology and behavior to show that in some cases government must regulate markets for our own health and well-being. And by understanding and controlling the factors that go into our decisions, big and small, we can all begin to stop the damage we do to our bodies, our finances, and our economy as a whole.
Ubel's vivid stories bring his message home for anyone interested in improving the way our society works.
Ubel (medicine and psychology, Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine, U. of Michigan) argues that restricting certain kinds of freedom can help preserve health and well-being. He details the harms of capitalism, which gives consumers too many choices to make bad decisions, and argues for a more restrained market that will help protect people from their nature to overconsume. He discusses problems such as obesity, impulsive behavior, and behaviors like smoking; concepts of rationality, persuasion, and behavioral economics; how society might benefit from soft paternalism; and the problem of free market medical care. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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- Boston, Mass. : Harvard Business Press, 2009.
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