The Winner's Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life: Amazon.ca: Richard H. Thaler: Books

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From Library Journal

An economic anomaly occurs when there is a difference between how standard economic theory predicts people should behave and how people actually behave. Thaler examines a number of these situations that occur in the real world and experimentally. Although everyone will recognize these situations, unfortunately much of his discussion will not be accessible to non-economists. Economists will find this an intriguing work that provides excellent reviews of some of the most recent economic research. Consequently this volume would be appropriate for libraries at universities with graduate programs in economics.
-Richard C. Schiming, Mankato State Univ., Minn.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

By unraveling a series of real-world puzzles with philosophical and practical implications, Thaler illuminates some fairly abstruse ideas in an entertaining way.... The best minds in economics today, as Thaler's provocative book suggests, are trying to supplement [insights into markets and prices] with a broader understanding of what makes people tick. -- Christopher Farrell, Business Week

Richard Thaler ... stylishly recounts empirical findings that skewer hitherto sheltered economic beliefs. -- Lola L. Lopes, Contemporary Psychology --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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A friend of yours is the Chairman of the Acme Oil Company. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars by an economist, for an economist, May 8 2004

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Ryan Coleman (houston, tx United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Winner's Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life (Paperback)

as an amateur economist grown increasingly dissatisfied w/ the failures of available theories, i was hopeful that this book would expound more on why markets fail. in some ways it did (in a very drab and boring language), although its coverage of financial markets (my interest) was all too brief and incomplete---the coverage of losers' outperformance of winners in equities was by far (IMHO) the best section of the book, but as good as that section was, the coverage of foreign exchange fluctuations was a failure. ---soros did a much better job of this.

there is some good material in this book, and i would give it 3 stars as a result, but the writing style makes it simply too inaccessible for the average reader. better financial market focus can be found in "reminisces of a stock operator" and "alchemy of finance", which really were accidental breakthroughs in behavioral finance (particularly the former--a gem of a book).

rhyno

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5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing for the academic mind, April 12 2004

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Brian S. Yelvington (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Winner's Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life (Paperback)

Most anyone will find this discussion of Thaler's (and his colleagues) work enough to whet their appetite for more on the subject. It is only a matter of time before you will find yourself digging up the academic papers behind the discussions. My only complaint: the supporting books by Kahneman and Tversky are expensive!

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3.0 out of 5 stars Approach Only With Game Theory Background, Nov 18 2003

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Ryan Harvey (Portland, Oregon; United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Winner's Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life (Paperback)

"The Winner's Curse" is a collection of academic articles Richard Thaler wrote for academic literature. And while Thaler thinks like a good economist, unfortunately, he writes like a good economist (that is, badly). This is a helpful book if you are interested in a rigorous mathematical treatment of economic anomalies and have a more than cursory understanding of game theory. If not, check out "Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds" instead.

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars A waste of good topics with bad writing/story telling skills
I agree that the topics covered by the author are interesting, like the Winner's Curse which is the title of the book (that the successful bidder often loses in the end), and many... Read more

Published on Feb 5 2003 by ServantofGod

4.0 out of 5 stars good introduction
This book by one of the triumvirate of today's leading experimental economists is a solid introduction to many of the challenges which posit to unseat the rational selfish man,... Read more

Published on Jun 10 2002 by Seymour Butts