Perhaps mindful that the procession of Freakonomics-inspired pop-economics books is becoming a blur, blogger Cowen aims to not hit the reader over the head with economic principles. Indeed, in his chatty disquisitions, economics often recedes into near invisibility. Few readers will hold it against this charming guide on how to get more of the good stuff in life. An engaging narrator, Cowen offers idiosyncratic strategies for appreciating museum art, for building family trust and cooperation, for writing a personal ad, for reading classic novels that seem boring on first inspection, for surviving torture, for properly practicing self-deception and for most effectively giving to beggars in Calcutta.

Demonstrates how to use hidden economic principles behind everyday situations to reach one’s personal goals, from reading a classic novel to finding a dentist, in a guide that demonstrates how to make the most of non-monetary incentives.

1.  I Want a Banana; I Buy One

2.  How to Control the World, the Basics

3.  How to Control the World, Knowing When to Stop

4.  Possess All the Great Art Ever Made

5.  Look Good at Home, on a Date, or While Being Tortured

6.  The Dangerous and Necessary Art of Self-Decepti0n

7.  Eat Well, Bananas Aside

8.  Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins (or Not)

9.  How to Save the World--More Christmas Presents Won't Work

10.  Your Inner Economist and the Future of Civilization

  References

  Acknowledgments

  Index