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Loading... The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do (2011)by Eduardo Porter
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  wellington299 | Feb 19, 2022 |   This book addresses a variety of social and cultural issues, and puts them together in a way that will hopefully make you pause and consider for a moment the costs of the small and big things in everyday life. I know as I was reading it, there were several spots where I stopped and said, “Hey, listen to this!” This is a highly readable and provoking read; however, although there are citations in the endnotes, there is not a recommended reading list or bibliography addressing each particular chapter, which would be useful for those wanting to examine some of the issues in depth. (  ) resoundingjoy | Jan 1, 2021 | Have to admit that it was interesting as I read it (most of it), but unfortunately, it’s already fading. I won’t remember it. The conclusion (most fresh in my mind) does refer to the 2008 financial crisis quite a bit, and hopes that people will have learned a few things. I do wonder what the author would write now, after things have shut down due to COVID, and are just now starting to reopen for the economy. (  ) LibraryCin | May 13, 2020 | Written by a journalist and writer for the NY Times, Mr. Porter covers why things cost what they do, looking at the different perspectives of life, happiness, and work. How much does a person cost and how much does a happy life cost? Everything has a price tag and looking at where and how that price tag came to be as interesting. How Was It? While there is very broad coverage of topics, also including women, religion, and the future, a straight forward economics-based approach to the pricing of these topics was elucidating to me. Who Should Read It? Anyone looking to better understand their local economy, the price of a cup of coffee, and how much prices have an effect on your world. ( ) askedrelic | Aug 31, 2019 | The explanation may be correct, but it is hardly conclusive. There may not be a connection between the price and X. (  ) beetle_b | Feb 7, 2018 |
 "His main feat lies in scouring, translating and synthesizing the latest findings of social science into something that the curious layperson would actually enjoy reading. If anything, he is a dollop too diligent: every so often an observation comes off as banal, while other insights contain a waft of the dubious. "  In the end, The Price of Everything amounts to a grab bag of liberal pieties disguised as logic. Illegal immigration, we're informed, has no economic downside; banned drugs should be legalized; conservative arguments against health-care reform are foolish; President Obama's financial-regulation law is wise. Trying to make sense of why Americans, unlike their counterparts in other Western countries, persist in religious belief, Mr. Porter says: "I suspect it has to do with the fact that, for a rich country, the United States has lots of poor people." There go those poor people again, clinging to God (and no doubt their guns too). . . . As a piece of lay economics, Mr. Porter's book isn't worth a great deal. As a Democratic policy tract, it's standard fare. But as a window into liberal provincialism, The Price of Everything is invaluable.
Business.
Nonfiction.
HTML:Everything has a price, but it isn't always obvious what that price is. Many of the prices we pay seem to make little sense. We shell out $2.29 for a coffee at Starbucks when a nearly identical brew can be had at the corner deli for less than a dollar. We may be less willing to give blood for $25 than to donate it for free. Americans hire cheap illegal immigrants to fix the roof or mow the lawn, and vote for politicians who promise to spend billions to keep them out of the country. And citizens of the industrialized West pay hundreds of dollars a year in taxes or cash for someone to cart away trash that would be a valuable commodity in poorer parts of the world. The Price of Everything starts with a simple premise: there is a price behind each choice that we make, whether we're deciding to have a baby, drive a car, or buy a book. We often fail to appreciate just how critical prices are as a motivating force shaping our lives. But their power becomes clear when distorted prices steer our decisions the wrong way. Eduardo Porter uncovers the true story behind the prices we pay and reveals what those prices are actually telling us. He takes us on a global economic adventure, from comparing the relative price of a vote in corrupt São Tomé and in the ostensibly uncorrupt United States, to assessing the cost of happiness in Bhutan, to deducing the dollar value we assign to human life. His unique approach helps explain: * Why polygamous societies actually place a higher value on women than monogamous ones. * Why someone may find more value in a $14 million license plate than the standard issue, $95 one. * Why some government agencies believe one year of life for a senior citizen is four times more valuable than that of a younger person. Porter weaves together the constant-and often unconscious-cost and value assessments we all make every day. While exploring the fascinating story behind the price of everything from marriage and death to mattresses and horsemeat, Porter draws unexpected connections that bridge a wide range of disciplines and cultures. The result is a cogent and insightful narrative about how the world really works. Watch a Vi No library descriptions found. 
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)338.521Social sciences Economics Production Microeconomics PricesLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.22)
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It took over two months before I could get my hands on this book from the library. And after reading it, it merits mainly just a shrug of the shoulder.
The book did make me ponder about "death panels" in which committees weight a human life against a dollar amount. At first I revolt at the idea ... but we just pick on "death panels" for making decisions which we do not really want to ourselves, but decisions that we do have to make. (