Fair Play

Numerous books have been written on applying economics to everyday life, but Steve Landsburg's latest book employs a paradigm that puts it head and shoulders above the rest. His interactions with his daughter Cayley put a fascinating spin on things as her experiences and actions are filtered through the eyes of an economist. Landsburg points out again and again how we hold adults to a different, and lower, standard than we hold children, how we tell things to other adults that we would never say to a child and that adults accept excuses and reasoning from other adults that we would never accept from children.Landsburg sometimes departs from the father-daughter paradigm to discuss issues that don't always fit in the with the rest of the book, but are fascinating none-the-less. Landsburg has a talent for making you think about an issue in novel ways. His analysis of minimum wage laws is clever and principled and nothing like you've ever heard before. Landsburg sheds the same critical light on everything from affirmative action to the rights of the unconceived. But this is more than a book about economics. It's about what principles we want to use to guide our lives. It's about families. It's about a lot of other things too, but it's especially about fun. If you don't laugh out loud several times while reading this book, you need to have your head examined. Only the most determined curmudgeon could read this without cracking a smile at least once.

Most important lesson: always be skeptical and critical of everything you read, hear, or see. Always apply logic and common sense to draw your own conclusions. AC.CHB

As a parent and a citizen-of-earth, I enjoyed (almost) every page of this book. Landsburg helps the reader to think through some issues which are much more "black and white" than our society seems to think they are. Seeking for truth? Be careful of what you wish for. Some of the truths that Landsburg finds in his daughter's life and the way he wants to bring her up will shine some light in corners you may not want to look at. In particular, I was very moved by his views on how our society treats the most productive and successful among us. You will never listen to a Bill Gates joke the same way again. I loved this book! After borrowing it from a friend, I am buying my own copy. Worth owning and worth reading!

A life is full of inequality. Just because we were born during the time when we still have room to grow, we may be happier than our children or grandchildren. The author believes that the more we get larger populations, the more inovated in terms of technology or similar matter to keep our sustainability. In fact, this book of full of imressive ideas that encourage us to overcome the limit to think. When you read "Fair Play." You are going to cry, "that's not fair!"

Steven Landsburg is extraordinarily gifted both as an economist and as a writer. He proves what many economists lazily deny: that economics can be made accessible to those untutored in the subject. Not only will non-economists learn oodles from this spirited book, so too will economists. The only nit I have to pick is Landsburg's analysis of minimum-wage legislation. I find his analysis of such legislation unpersuasive (though clever). The rest of the book is a genuine intellectual delight.