In this book, Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler challenges the received economic wisdom by revealing many of the paradoxes that abound even in the most painstakingly constructed transactions. He presents literate, challenging, and often funny examples of such anomalies as why the winners at auctions are often the real losers--they pay too much and suffer the winner's curse--why gamblers bet on long shots at the end of a losing day, why...
We highly recommend this classic of economic literature, one of the first (more or less) accessible presentations of the evidence against economic rationality. Economists have assumed, conventionally, that economic choice rests on a foundation of rationality. For instance, economists tend to think that people will put the same value on two mathematically identical offers. Yet laboratory experiments have proven what everyday...
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Most anyone will find this discussion of Thaler's (and his colleagues) work enough to whet their appetite for more on the subject. It is only a matter of time before you will find yourself digging up the academic papers behind the discussions. My only complaint: the supporting books by Kahneman and Tversky are expensive!
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How rational are human beings or how close to the economic models do they act? This book is a collection of articles by Professor Thaler which shows that we quite usually don't behave like theory predicts. Thaler's extensive research (the references are 30 pages long) gives The Winner's Curse a great academic foundation, but its maths that can be skipped and easy language makes the book acessible - and enjoyable - for every...
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Much more fun to read than I expected. I am generally put off by economics books, but this one turned into a fascinating read.The Winner's Curse lists a series of economic anomalies, the title being one of them. Thaler calls them anomalies since each defies 'classical' economic theory, generally the notion that markets are efficient and participants know what they are doing. Since few would accuse me of knowing what...
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This book is an excellent introduction to consumer behavior, especially behavioral finance. While it reads at times like an anthology, the book covers many discrete aspects of consumer behavior. By consumer behavior, it is meant consumer risk-taking. Many solid examples, especially in the financial arena. If you are a contrarian investor, then this book is for you--identifying why the "herd" often behaves in the manner that...
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