The Armchair Economist
Economics and Everyday Life

Abysmal, condescending, illogical and mean-spirited book on social economics. Absolutely no sources named for "statistics". The author seems to think that a significant number of people go to the movies solely to eat popcorn and that the benefits of recycling are outweighed by the fact that he doesn......more

I have to give this book a three since I did learn something, although I really hold it in remarkable contempt. For the first time ever while reading an economics book, I felt like I understood the contempt held for the 'dismal science'. I feel like delving into this a bit. The author makes a claim......more

I don't usually review books for the benefit of others. If I do, I usually make a brief statement for me to remember what I felt at a later time. But for those who want to read this book, which has been touted as the predecessor of "Freakonomics", or as a layman's introduction to economics, I have t......more

Recommended to my wife as Freakonomics’ better predecessor (Armchair Economist was originally published in 1993), Landsburg describes his work as “a chronicle of what [he] learned at lunch” (p. viii). Now, even granting the University of Rochester economics professor latitude befitting his choice of......more