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What makes Schelling such a pleasure to read, apart from his lean, clear, wry conversational style, is the shrewdness and human insight with which he breaks down complex problems and phenomena into their parts, permitting systematic understanding to develop. (The New Republic )
Without exception, the essays are witty, erudite and stimulating. (Wall St. Journal )
Product Description
Thomas Schelling is a political economist "conspicuous for wandering" an errant economist. In Choice and Consequence, he ventures into the area where rationality is ambiguous in order to look at the tricks people use to try to quit smoking or lose weight. He explores topics as awesome as nuclear terrorism, as sordid as blackmail, as ineffable as daydreaming, as intimidating as euthanasia. He examines ethical issues wrapped up in economics, unwrapping the economics to disclose ethical issues that are misplaced or misidentified.
With an ingenious, often startling approach Schelling brings new perspectives to problems ranging from drug abuse, abortion, and the value people put on their lives to organized crime, airplane hijacking, and automobile safety. One chapter is a clear and elegant exposition of game theory as a framework for analyzing social problems. Another plays with the hypothesis that our minds are not only our problem-solving equipment but also the organ in which much of our consumption takes place.
What binds together the different subjects is the author's belief in the possibility of simultaneously being humane and analytical, of dealing with both the momentous and the familiar. Choice and Consequence was written for the curious, the puzzled, the worried, and all those who appreciate intellectual adventure.
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Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unlike any of Schelling's other works..,
By
This review is from: Choice and Consequence (Paperback)
Most people reading this review will know Schelling as a renowned game-theorist/economist, and perhaps as a nobel-prize winner. This is bound to lead to an impression that his books must most likely be economic discourses full of the metrics and highfalutin theoretical abstractions that usually pervade the field in academic circles. I'll dispel that myth and have you know that Schelling's books -- notably this one and his seminal "Strategy of Conflict" (SOC) -- are as close as you'll come to a readable yet gripping compendium of his fascinating economic thinking. His writing is purposefully simple, and his sharp arguments evoke thoughts about matters that can and will appeal to just about any Joe Bloggs. But this book is different from any of Schelling's other published works. SOC for instance was a compilation of roughly a dozen essays discussing negotiation, conflict and strategy...the applications of which were international -- diplomacy, deterrence, arms control, foreign aid, environmental policy, nuclear proliferation, organized crime, racial segregation and integration, tobacco and drugs policy, and ethical issues in policy and business. While most of Schelling's work including SOC has been of a macro-economic bent, the essays in this book extend his theories to a more personal, social level -- things such as how people maneuver in traffic jams, how parents negotiate with their kids (toughest customers in my book), how they behave when confronted with ransom demands, or file suits, or devise agendas for a meeting or their daily lives. I would draw your attention in particular to chapter 6, "Strategic Relationships in Dying" which touches upon some very interesting subjects such as the relationship between a patient and his doctor, especially a terminally ill patient -- where significant human "choices" need to be made to withhold information, to authenticate assertions, and the conflict of interest that arises within small groups. This article truly underscores that apart from being a leading political economist, a métier Schelling has clearly excelled at, he is also at heart a fabulous thinker and writer. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in strategy, or economics, or negotiation, or even a basic thought-provoking intelligent read. Shashank Tripathi
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A political economist's insightful way of looking at issues.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Choice and Consequence (Paperback)
A very interesting book. I read it when it first came out,and I still refer back to it from time to time. Schelling takes a look at a myriad of social issues from taxation policy to the cost/benefit analysis of new airport lights for a small community and always makes the reader think. He has a great way of turning situations around so that one can see both sides of an argument and then make informed, and sometimes, rational decisions. A good book on public policy which can turn a liberal into a conservative and vice versa!
5.0 out of 5 stars
How to think,
By A Customer
This review is from: Choice and Consequence (Paperback)
This book taught me nothing less than how to think correctly about social and political issues - not through instruction, but by example. I was lucky enough to have it assigned to me, and in introduction the professor said, "Schelling is my guru." Count one more acolyte.
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