Customer Reviews

Micromotives And Macrobehavior

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Micromotives & Macrobehavior is one of those little economics books that everyone "knows" but few have actually read. It is an amusing little collection of the ways in which "everyday" behavior can yield surprising results in the aggregate scope. We see actions from our own point of view, and it's interesting to formalize how these actions sum up in the big picture -- not always in the way we'd intuitively expect.

As always, Schelling is highly readable, and has great examples and insights. However, this is not a state-of-the-art treatise on behavior systems / preference aggregation / choice processes, nor is it adequate as a standalone introduction to economics for a beginner. Because other reviews of this book seem to be unabashedly positive, let me mention two possible downsides to this book:

--First, is this really economics? It seems more like operations research, or "systems theory," applied to human agents. Operations research and economics are of course deeply intertwined, but it would be a mistake for a layperson to read this book and think that this is what economics is all about. The market aspects of economics are largely left out, as is most of the economist's toolkit, and questions the economist asks. Perhaps a better place for a novice to start, on similar material, to learn more about the "big picture" of economics would be the work of Gary Becker, or (second choice) Paul Krugman.

--Secondly, most, if not all, of this book's content will be old-hat to anyone who has been trained to think like an economist or applied mathematician. The models are very nice, but if you have basic undergraduate-level experience with microeconomics or operations research, you will know what Schelling is about to say before he says it. The book's back cover raves about Schelling's formalization of the concept of a traffic jam, but it's been done before, many times, even before this book's 1978 publication. This is in no way a serious book about such problems for the practitioner or theoretician; the examples are interesting, but the analysis isn't particularly new.

One positive aspect of this book, and one way in which it's a better primer on economics than some others, is that it provides an introduction to the usefulness, power, and also fallacies of using models (or simulations) of human behavior. Schelling's models are very powerful, but it's also easy to see ways in which a slight change in the way the model is set up would drastically change results -- all models are very arbitrary, and maybe Schelling doesn't do enough to warn readers that arbitrary assumptions sometimes drive his results. (For example, the book has a model of a ski chairlift, in which Schelling's "surprising" result is covertly driven by his arbitrary assumption about the speed with which people can seat themselves on the chairs.)

Overall, this is a worthwhile read, even if it's neither a broad overview of economic science, nor cutting-edge theoretical work. Schelling's cleverness in creating models, then explaining them, makes this book "worth it" -- and this can be a good lead-in for Schelling's other work, e.g. "Strategy of Conflict."

Have you ever been in one of those situations where you want to behave just like everyone else (dress-code at dinner parties, crossing the street in spite of red light, going to a hip club instead of a deserted) or NOT behaving just like everyone else (going to exotic countries and empty beaches, buying undervalued stocks) -- of course you have. Life is made of it. Schelling starts with simple situations like these and shows how important social problems can be modelled and understood from them. It is the same basic principles at work! The result is splendid, insightful and very useful for all kind of analysis, both in academic and in private life.

Schelling has a lovely way of writing. I have just cruised through a hundred pages without noticing the clock. Then I figured I probably should give this book a favourable review. You do not have to be an economist to enjoy this book, although you might want to become one after you have read it.

Schelling's Micro Motives and Macro Behavior is food for the hungry brain. It's written for everyday folks who don't have a background in economics, but are willing to experiment. I'd recommend it for anyone who is studying the social sciences--especially if you're trying to understand where people come up with all these theories about politics, behavior, and the human world at large. Reading Schelling is like watching a favorite TV show. His prose is delightful, his selection of examples is easy for anyone to relate to (like buying lemons or adjusting a thermostat), and the way he writes, you forget that your brain is getting an intellectual workout. This book is positively sublime. You can read through it, cover to cover, in no time at all, and it's not until the end that you'll realize that you've been training your mind in positive economic theory --without the jargon, the mind-boggling graphs and charts, the formal models, the calculus, the supply and demand curves and all that googley-gunk that comes with most any primer on economics. Schelling's work is not just a classic, it's a masterpiece! And you don't need to be an economist or a doctoral candidate to appreciate it.

I agree with Pierce Inverarity's remarks about this book not being too ground-breaking micro-economics. But the book is still splendid reading for the right audience. When I gave the book five stars, it was not as an economist (yes, I also heard it all in the first weeks on the introductory course in micro-economics). The book is splendid because it teaches a basic economic world-view in a way which can engage people who are utterly uninterested in this kind of thinking.

This book is both witty and enlightening. Schelling's engaging writing style is an enjoyable vehicle to his description of multiplayer Prisonner's Dilemmas. If you never uderstood why the Prisonner's Dilemma is important, this book explains it.

The subject of this book is simple: some times events that seem the result of planning can be explained as a result emerging out of individual actions. Schelling analysis is maginificent, well deserving this book status as a classic. The model, or quasi-model, on housing discrimination is a piece of art.

Schelling gets the job done with one of the most difficult subject of economics: how to go from micro to macro analysis; how to reconcile individual rationality with aggregate behaviour. Every paper in this book is superb and illuminating. Pathbreaking in every sense.

This author convinces the reader that individual actions often lead to surprising results in the aggregate. This is not some boring economic lecture but an interesting survey covering broad concepts like segregation and free choice. This book is not to be overlooked.