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Title: More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics
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Manufacturer: Free Press
List Price: $26.00
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| Customer Reviews: |
| More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics by Free Press Thought-provoking and original | Don't let the title or the jocular style fool you--this book is a tremendous intellectual achievement.
Even if you feel like you've already gotten the gist of "how economists think"-style books (Freakonomics, The Undercover Economist...), you'll find plenty of fresh, counterintuitive thoughts here. Some are more serious than others (many economists, including the Freakonomics authors, support markets for human organs; few would support the "condom bounties" that he proposes, presumably tongue-in-cheek, to reduce the spread of diseases), but all are thoroughly fun to read--and important to consider.
If the book makes you feel frustrated, then you might want to read Landsburg's previous book, The Armchair Economist, which more thoroughly explains his premises. | | More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics by Free Press More sex is safer sex | | More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics..very nice book and good eye opening facts discussed. | | More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics by Free Press Specious | After the first few chapters it becomes a chore to slog through the "wisdom" of such a mind. Being contrarian for its own sake becomes an exercise, not an argument. Arguing that promiscuity would diminish aids, in Landsburg's world, works only if all his pre-set parameters fall in line. One miscue and the world is overrun, not to mention that pesky morality issue. But in the cold world of logic and economics, how can morality have a place? Easily. By factoring it into the equation. And having patents on new inventions put immediately into the public domain would, of course, stifle creativity as money is the overwhelming motivator for those entrepreneurs. Never is such a possibility mentioned. And if such were the case, could I not simply reproduce his books with his name as my pseudonym and take the profits? Shouldn't they be public domain as soon as they are printed?
This is only two of the many specious arguments made, and, to be honest, after getting about half-way through I found no benefit in finishing the book. | | More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics by Free Press Really fun, with serious analyses and surprising implications | This is another great book from Steve Landsburg. Everyone interested in thinking seriously about economics and social issues should read it. The reason is not that it's full of policy proposals, but that the book is filled with surprising results that follow from serious analyses of issues. Those analyses are sometimes summaries of very detailed studies reported in professional journals, and sometimes short, quick analyses that cut through webs of unimportant detail to focus on the key issues. For example, the title essay is based on professional work by Harvard economist Michael Kremer, while Landsburg's essay on how to fix the justice system is an outstanding example of analysis that cuts right to the heart of the matter. So what if the book doesn't end up with serious policy proposals? It asks the right questions and draws out often-surprising logical implications: it makes you think. How many of the reviewers who didn't like the book actually got the right answer to the question raised on page 91? And yet any reader who goes away without understanding that answer has failed to comprehend even the most basic logic that is required to address serious, real-life policy issues. You may not "agree" with Landsburg in the sense that you believe there are other considerations that he neglects, and that's great: let's add whatever else may be important to our analyses. But no one will get very far on any of these issues without understanding the logical implications that Landsburg takes us through.
So read the book and think seriously about it. Don't expect a light read such as Freakonomics. Landsburg's book is a lot of fun, but with far more substance and far less filler. All the better, because it's really fun to learn surprising new things.
| | More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics by Free Press Thought provoking but incoherent and inconclusive | I, like most people, was drawn to this book by it's title alone. After finding out it was supposed to be similar in style to Freakonomics, I thought I would take a look. I was amused at first but then disappointed and confused.
His ideas are definitely surprising, as even he points out, and sound funny but possible at the beginning, but his writing style mostly rambles, occasionally spouting off interesting thoughts but rarely delving deeper into them or giving them enough consideration to make them weighty.
The parts I found most annoying were his chapter endings. He poses so many ideas, most of them very controversial, provides some support but not enough to actually legitimize his arguments, then abruptly ends each chapter with something akin to "Oh well, maybe that's a good idea, maybe not, who really knows."
So while he does offer some interesting talking points, it's mostly unsubstantiated white noise. |
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