Akerlof George, Shiller Robert J. Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception

Princeton University Press, 2016. — 288 p. — ISBN10: 0691173028; ISBN13: 978-0691173023.Ever since Adam Smith, the central teaching of economics has been that free markets provide us with material well-being, as if by an invisible hand. In Phishing for Phools, Nobel Prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller deliver a fundamental challenge to this insight, arguing that markets harm as well as help us. As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools."Phishing for Phools therefore strikes a radically new direction in economics, based on the intuitive idea that markets both give and take away. Akerlof and Shiller bring this idea to life through dozens of stories that show how phishing affects everyone in almost every walk of life. We spend our money up to the limit and then worry about how to pay the next month's bills. The financial system soars then crashes. We are attracted, more than we know, by advertising. Our political system is distorted by money. We pay too much for gym memberships, cars, houses, and credit cards. Drug companies ingeniously market pharmaceuticals that do us little good and sometimes are downright dangerous.
Phishing for Phools explores the central role of manipulation and deception in fascinating detail in each of these areas and many more. It thereby explains a paradox: why, at a time when we are better off than ever before in history, all too many of us are leading lives of quiet desperation. At the same time, the book tells stories of individuals who have stood against economic trickery — and how it can be reduced through greater knowledge, reform, and regulation.George A. Akerlof, Co-Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics.
Robert J. Shiller, Co-Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics.
Winner of the 2016 Gold Medal in Economics, Axiom Business Book Awards.
One of Foreign Affairs' Best Economic, Social, and Environmental (Economics) Books of 2016.
Selected for Bloomberg View's "The Writing that Shaped Economic Thinking in 2016"
One of The Times Literary Supplement's Books of the Year 2016, chosen by Paul Collier.
Honorable Mention for the 2016 PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers.
One of The Independent's Best Economics Books 2015.
One of LinkedIn's Best Business Books of 2015.
One of BusinessInsider.com's Best Business Books of 2015.
One of Legal Theory Bookworm's Books of the Year 2015.
Longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2015.Нобелевские лауреаты по экономике бросают вызов концепции невидимой руки рынка и рассказывают о том, как рынки могут не только приносить пользу, но и наносить вред.
Со времен Адама Смита принято считать, что свободные рынки ведут к материальному благополучию. Но Акерлоф и Шиллер уверены: продавцы, стремящиеся к прибыли, используют наши психологические слабости и уязвимые места, прибегают к манипулированию и обману. А рынки не всегда ведут к лучшим товарам и услугам, они полны ловушек и хитростей.
Авторы этой книги, нобелевские лауреаты по экономике, собрали десятки примеров, чтобы показать, как это касается каждого и каждый день. Мы тратим деньги до последнего и потом думаем, как платить по счетам в следующем месяце. Финансовая система раздувается как пузырь, чтобы затем лопнуть. Влияние рекламы сильно, как никогда. Мы слишком много платим за машины, дома, абонементы в фитнес-залы и за кредитные карты. Фармацевтические компании умело продвигают лекарства, от которых мало толку — а иногда бывает и вред.
Книга рассказывает об этих и многих других примерах из современной экономики и показывает, как можно сражаться с манипуляциями на рынках, повышая уровень знаний и внедряя правильные институты и реформы.