The Economic Naturalist's Field Guide: Common Sense Principles for Troubled Times
By:
Robert H. Frank
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Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5
Description:
Ask a dozen talking heads about how the economy works and what course of action we should take and you’ll get thirteen different answers. But what if we possessed a handful of basic principles that could guide our decisions—both the personal ones about what to buy and how to spend but also those national ones that have been capturing the headlines? Robert H. Frank, (a.k.a. the Economic Naturalist) has been illustrating those principles longer and more clearly than anyone else. In The Economic Naturalist’s Field Guide, he reveals how they play out in Washington, on Wall Street, and in our own lives, covering everything from tax policy to financial investment to everyday decisions about saving and spending. In today’s uncertain economic climate, The Economic Naturalist’s Field Guide’s insights have more bearing on our pocketbooks, policies, and personal happiness than ever.
Publisher: Basic Books
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Provides a host of theories on how to win in troubled times - The economic boom has ended and the connections between money and happiness have become quite tenuous: THE ECONOMIC NATURALIST'S FIELD GUIDE discusses this link, considers how the crisis has changed middle class perceptions and values, and offers a key to consuming less as part of the solution. From reducing consumption to working towards a national health plan, this provides a host of theories on how to win in troubled times.
Customer Review: 2 out of 5
Disappointing - I was quite enamored with Robert Frank's last popular economics book, The Economic Naturalist. I could barely summon the enthusiasm to finish this one, though.
A collection of columns Frank has written, this book gives short arguments in favor of Frank's opinions on old and new political debates, with most of the justifications for the arguments ostensibly from economics.
Perhaps it's the length restriction on the columns, but almost all of them come off as a collection of hasty generalizations and shoddy reasoning. For example, several times he justifies higher taxes on the rich because otherwise they would just spend their money on something frivolous like a new yacht. There may be lots of good justifications for taxes, but this isn't one of them - yacht companies employ people just like other companies do. Even when I agreed with Frank's conclusions, I felt embarrassed with the reasoning he used to arrive at them.
There are a few flashes of insight, and nuggets of wisdom interspersed, but ultimately this book seemed like a cheap cash in on the success of the last one.
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
Sophmoric solutions - Good that Dr. Frank is a college professor. He should feel right at home theorizing with juvenile minds.
The theories proposed in this book are incomplete in their analysis- academic and not remotely practical. His premises are clearly shaped by a theoretical view of the world vs. reality.
The answer to all social issues is to tax demand out of existence. Governence by penalty- versus ingenuity. The Federal government should control all behavior to cause the world to look like he and myopic clique think it should.
The book certainly answers the question that he raises, as to why people do not embrace economics. It is in large part because most economists- Frank foremost among them- proffer impractical conclusions based on hand chosen (and incomplete) data and analysis, without thorough consideration of all the consequences taken into account. More important to be clever than practical. Regular people, using common sense, can see through that, so dismiss the pontificaing- as they have to survive in the real world.
Not a scholarly work. Not thoughtful, or rigorous, in its analysis.
Read "Naked Economics", by Charles Wheelan, to get an unbiased and accurate understanding of the dismal science.
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Interesting Perspectives on an Array of Economic Issues - There have been a number of books published recently covering economic principles and their applications to the world we see around us (e.g., Freakonomics and Armchair Economist). Frank's book however emphasizes a different slice of the field, in particular covering the concepts of "relative spending", "expenditure cascades", and an examination of the effects of various kinds of tax policy on people's daily lives.
The book consists of a collection of prior articles, organized by general themes and woven together with additional narrative. The book should not be looked at as "the definitive word" on the topics in question; indeed, Frank himself prefaces his article on the AOL/Time Warner merger with the caution that it was the worst piece he'd ever written. However, the book does take a look at various economic topics in an accessible an engaging way, and presents interesting perspectives that would probably be new to most.
Those with a strong ideological tilt in either direction will probably not appreciate the book, but it does provide an interesting and engaging look at a variety of economic concepts in play in the real world.
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
The Economic Naturalist's Field Guide: Common Sense Principles for Troubled Times - Dr. Frank's starts with the premise that we live and work for the right to pay taxes. Dr. Frank has a vested interest in higher taxes because the taxpayer pays his salary. He says that tax cuts hurt the rich because they spend the excess money on having a larger house. Dr. Frank fails to mention that the rich individual pays construction workers for these home improvements. He offers another lame comment that increasing disposal income by tax cutting leads to more expensive gifts. The rich individual gives his wife a dozen roses instead of a single rose. Buying a dozen roses instead of a single rose increases demand for roses which benefits a small business person.
Taxes are an impediment on the entrepenure. The owners of small business often want to hire more people but can't because taxes are a drain on his business. He derides the U.S. Health care system but fails to mention that other countries ration health care to control costs. You get what you pay for.
Dr. Frank is a member of academia and is probably a tenured professor. He will have a secure job until he chooses to retire. He is insulated from the realities of life. He is insulated from having to design products that will sell or having to comply with the myriad of government regulations that increase cost of doing business.
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